Redemptive Opportunities
by Assassin's Creed Master
Summary: Lee Everett had been bitten and he slowly began to close his eyes while saying goodbye to Clementine. He was dead, but then his eyes opened and he was alive and well. Now given a second chance to make things right, Lee is determined to save those who died before and find somewhere safe for Clementine. (written With A Writer With Mixed Interests).
1. Chapter 1: a second chance

**Redemptive Opportunities**

**Chapter 1: a second chance**

**Warning, if you have not played The Walking Dead Video Game, this story will contain spoilers.**

**Yo, what's up, ladies and gentlemen, we're back with another story. Once again, I am writing this story with A Writer With Mixed Interests. This is our last story were writing together. **

**Now as you can tell me the title and summary, this is a story where Lee is given a second chance to make things right after he dies. I've seen similar stories, but people just didn't want to finish them as perusal. I'm not saying everyone does that, but people.**

**Anyway, here's the beginning chapter of the story. If you have any questions, let either of us know. Enjoy the first chapter, folks, and don't be afraid to hit that review button.**

* * *

"No, don't worry...alright."

Lee's ability to breathe was decreasing faster than he liked, and his yellowing eyes were beginning to lose focus on the sobbing little girl that knelt before him. He was truly going to miss Clementine when he was gone, but at least he had fulfilled one thing: He had the chance to look after her until she found her parents.

Losing her parents and guardian all in one day had to have taken a toll on the little girl, but Lee knew that she could make it. She was strong, and was able to endure so much more than the average nine-year-old.

Lee was able to make out three more words, something he wanted to reassure Clementine. "I'll miss you."

"Me too." Clementine whimpered as she leaned forward and pressed her hand against Lee's one hand. Preparing to do something that would change her life forever, Clementine lifted the Glock 17 she acquired from the guard, and with one pull from the trigger, she fired.

Lee may be dead now and Clementine may be alone, but now he was in a better place.

* * *

Lee's eyes snapped open, and he sat up with a gasp. Looking around, he noticed that he was surrounded by trees. Where was he? Where was Clementine? Then he remembered, he should be handcuffed to a radiator with only one arm, but he wasn't.

Then, he remembered. He was bitten, and Clementine had just shot him in the head to prevent him from turning. But that didn't help on discovering where he was. It didn't seem like Heaven or hell or anything like that. Was this purgatory?

Lee reached out to scratch the back of his neck - wait. He looked down and realized that his left arm was back in place. Something was happening, but what?

He was about to stand up, but then he felt a sharp pain in his leg that sent him back down onto the ground. After carefully looking around, he discovered he was in the same forest where that cop car crashed. Speaking of the cop, Lee turned around and noticed the now dead office laying on the ground.

But how was here? Did he...Did he go back in time...? Was this...A second chance...?

While this was highly confusing and impossible, this was perfect. He could make things right, stop people from dying with the knowledge he has. Before thinking about it further, Lee noticed the walkers roaming around the area and quickly limped away.

From his memory, he knew that Clementine's house was coming up before him. Lee began to climb the fence, but not before a walker grabbed his good leg. He promptly kicked it away before it could bite him and practically fell onto the other side of the fence, where Clementine's backyard was.

The growling noises continued, but Lee ignored that. He looked up at the treehouse and knew that Clementine was up there, but he didn't know if calling up to her (especially by name) was a good idea. He steered clear from the treehouse in case she actually did try to drop a hammer onto his head.

Lee approached the glass door and looked around.

"Coast is clear," he told himself, opening the door and going inside. He remembered that it was unlocked.

First thing first, he had to take care of Sandra before she got to jump on him again. He armed himself with a knife and searched the house for her undead form. He eventually found Sandra on the stairs and stabbed her once in the head. Now with that taken care of, he picked up the walkie-talkie and waited for Clementine to contact him.

While he waited, the messages on the phone began to play. It felt extremely heart-breaking listening to them again.

_Three new messages. Message one. Left at five-forty-three p.m._

_"Hey, Sandra, this is Diana. We're still in Savannah. Ed had a little 'incident' with some crazy guy near the hotel, so we had to get him back to the ER and have it checked out. Anyway, he's not feeling well enough to drive back tonight, so we're staying an extra day. Thanks so much for looking after Clementine, and I promise we'll be back in time before your spring break!"_

_Message two. Left at eleven-nine-teen p.m._

_"Oh my God, finally! I don't know if you're tried to reach us; all the calls are getting dropped. They're not letting us leave and aren't telling us anything about Atlanta. Please, please, just leave the city and take Clementine with you back to Marietta. I've got to get back to the hospital. Please let me know that you're safe."_

_Message three. Left at six-fifty-one a.m._

_"Clementine? Baby, if you can hear this, call the police. That's 9-1-1. We love you...we love you...we love y-"_

_"Daddy?"_ her voice finally spoke up in static.

Lee pulled the walkie-talkie from his back pocket and spoke into it, trying to steer the conversation as slowly as possible. "Hello?"

_"You're not my Daddy."_ Clementine stated the obvious. Her sweet voice was exactly the same.

"I'm not a monster," Lee reassured her gently. He did his very best not to scare her.

_"My names Clementine."_ she introduced herself as before. _"This is my house."_

"Hi, Clementine," Lee greeted. "I'm Lee."

He decided to skip asking her about her parents, since he knew full well about them. "Are you okay?"

_"I'm in my tree house, they can't get in."_ Clementine answered as she leaned out of the tree house and waved to Lee. _"Can you see me? I can see you."_

Lee waved back with a smile, and since Sandra was already taken care of, the conversation wouldn't end so badly this time around.

"That's smart," Lee praised. "I can see you."

_"Is it safe to come down?"_ Clementine inquired and got a mere nod from Lee. She hoped down and went to greet him.

Lee heard the back door open, and a small yet familiar figure inched her way closer to him. He looked down at her and smiled gently. "Hi there."

"Hi" Clementine returned the greeting. She looked over his shoulder for a moment. "Where's Sandra?"

Lee was silent for a moment, looking at the ground solemnly. He wasn't entirely sure if he should tell Clementine the truth or not, until he realized that there was no point in lying to her.

"She was a monster. Like the ones outside," Lee explained. "I'm sorry."

"Oh." Clementine understood and lowered her head. She placed her hand upon her arm. "I want my parents to come back."

Lee looked away for half a second. "I...think that might be a little while, you know?" He didn't want to bluntly tell the little girl that her parents were dead.

"Oh, okay." Clementine nodded in sadness. "What am I going to do? I don't want to stop in my tree house again.

Lee knelt down to Clementine's level.

"I won't leave you alone, okay? I'll look after you for as long as I need to," he spoke gently. "But we need to find help before it gets dark."

"Yeah, that sounds long a good idea." Clementine agreed as she held Lee's hand.

"Let's go," Lee instructed. He looked down at the little girl. "Stay close to me."

Lee took Clementine around the corner of her home and then for a second time, he saw Shawn Greene and his friend Chet trying to move a car out the way like last time. Lee had to save Shawn this time, no matter what.

"Man, Mama was cooking hot dish tonight." Chet complained.

"We'll never get back home at this rate," Shawn moaned.

"Hey!" Lee called to them, same as before.

"Don't eat us!" Shawn pleaded as he and Chet jumped back, mistaking them to be walkers.

"We're not going to hurt you," Lee assured them, as Clementine hid behind him.

"Whew." Shawn sighed in relief. "You're not one of them then. Sorry, for a moment we thought you and your little girl were going to jump on us."

Lee nodded. "It's all right. We just need to get out of here. It's too dangerous."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Shawn agreed. "Listen, it's not safe to be out here. If you help us with this problem, we can give you and your daughter a ride to my dad's farm. I'm Shawn, Shawn Greene."

Lee noticed that the dialogue was slightly different compared to the first time, but nevertheless, he had the feeling everything would turn out mostly the same if he was able to save the others.

Chet knelt down to Clementine's height and waved at her to make her feel a little more comfortable. "I'm Chet."

Clementine smiled shyly and hid behind Lee's leg.

"I'm Lee. This is Clementine," Lee introduced them both. "And...I'm not her dad. I'm just some guy." He remembered that honesty was the best policy this time around.

Shawn looked a little skeptically, but nevertheless, she shrugged it off. "Okay. Well, we better get moving before of these things turn up."

Lee nodded and the four of them began to push a car out of their as quickly as possible. Last time, the walkers almost were upon them, but they escaped just in time.

Fortunately, Lee and the group were able to move the car out the way a lot faster than last time. Since there was no rush this time, Shawn, Lee and Clementine calmly entered the car while Chet climbed into the back.

"For just some guy, you seem to help others well." Shawn commented.

Lee smiled at the compliment, but didn't say anything. Clementine still looked a little scared, but he knew that she would be okay. The four drove their way to Hershel's farm, where Kenny and his family would also be.

* * *

The drive took nearly two hours, and by the time they got there, it was dark, the same as last time.

"Hey, Shawn? I ought to run on home now," Chet said to his friend. "Mama gets worried."

"All right, I'll see you later, man." Shawn bid his friend goodbye and hoped he stayed safe.

Chet bid Lee and Clementine goodbye too before he began to walk away from the farm.

As soon at Chet was out of sight, Hershel exited the house and was relieved to see his son alive and well. "Oh, thank God you're okay," he said, hugging Shawn.

"I probably wouldn't have made it back with Chet." Shawn admitted as he leaned out from the hug.

"Well, I'm glad you took him with you, then," Hershel noted. Finally, he noticed Lee and Clementine approaching, and said the same words as before. "You've brought a couple of guests."

"Your boy is a lifesaver," Lee commented.

"This is Lee and Clementine." Shawn introduced the two, gesturing his hands to both them and his father. "They helped me and Chet out back in Atlanta. I told them they could spend the night."

"Well, alright then. But just for tonight, I don't run a bed and breakfast," Hershel replied. He paused. "So, it's just you and your daughter, then."

"Not his daughter. He's just-well, some guy." Shawn corrected with a slight shrug.

Hershel frowned, and bent down to Clementine's level. "Honey, do you know this man?"

"Yes." Clementine nodded in response.

Hershel seemed satisfied with that answer and stood back up but then he noticed Lee's injured leg.

"Looks like you've hurt your leg pretty bad there." Hershel commented, placing his hands upon his hips.

Lee decided to shake it off this time around. "It's not too bad."

"Take a seat on the porch and let me be the judge of that." Hershel told him. "Shawn, go and check on your sisters."

Shawn nodded and went inside his home. Lee took on a seat on the porch like before while Clementine stood nearby. Hershel stepped inside his home for a moment to fetch some medical supplies.

Once he returned, he examined Lee's injury. "This looks swollen to hell."

"It hurts like hell, but then again it could be worse," Lee almost joked, smiling slightly.

"That's true." Hershel agreed as he began to wrap bandages around his wound. Like before, he began to ask the same questions. "How did this happen?"

Lee told him the truth last time which was a car accident in a police car, but he told Hershel that the officer was giving him a ride.

Still, though, honesty was the best policy as he remembered from earlier. So he decided to step ahead the game a little bit.

"I was in a car accident," he replied. "A police officer was giving me a ride out of Atlanta."

"That was awful nicely of him." Hershel replied, his expression looked like he believed him.

There wasn't much conversation between them after that. Hershel asked Clementine for her name, and after she introduced herself, Shawn came back outside.

"So I'm thinking first thing in the morning, we need to barricade that fence." Shawn suggested to his father.

Hershel, however, like before, did not seem to believe it. "That's not necessary, Shawn."

"Look, I don't know what you've heard, but there's some serious...Shit out there." Shawn lowered his voice to prevent Clementine from hearing him curse. "Lee, tell him what you saw out there."

"Your son's right, you might want to fortify this place," Lee agreed with Shawn.

"Well, do what you think is necessary." Hershel told his son after he finished tending to Lee's wound. "The swelling should go down. If not, well we'll just have to shoot you."

Lee could tell he was only kidding.

"We'll get to work on it in the morning with that other family." Shawn suggested as he proceeded back into the house.

Once some sleeping bags were issued, Lee and Clementine went into the barn where they noticed Kenny and his family sleeping from above.

Lee knew that he should sleep soon since Kenny would most likely be the one to wake him up in the morning, but first he talked to Clementine since she seemed a little sad.

"Are you okay, Clem?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm okay I guess." Clementine replied as she shifted around. "I just miss my mom and dad is all."

"I understand," Lee nodded sympathetically. "We should try and get some sleep. They'll probably be waking us up early tomorrow."

Clementine nodded and got into a comfortable position. Lee closed his eyes and drifted off into his own sleep, and this time, he did not have the nightmare of his ex-wife. Tomorrow was going to be the day things were going to pick up. It may be difficult to save everyone, but he had to try no matter what.

* * *

**That's the first chapter completed, folks. Lee has been given a second chance and so far, he has not saved any lives, but in time, he will try to save those who died before. Stay tuned for chapter 2.**


	2. Chapter 2: the road to Macon again

**Redemptive Opportunities**

**Chapter 2: to Macon again**

**Judging by the reviews from the first chapter, you guys and gals really are looking forward for more. My co-writer and I appreciate it a lot and if we can keep that review count up, we'll bring chapters faster. I'm a man of my word. In the meantime, here's chapter 2. Enjoy reading.**

* * *

It seemed like only minutes later when he heard a familiar voice, when in reality it was hours. It was now morning.

"Hey, get up," Kenny said, looking down at Lee. Lee opened his eyes and sat up. He had almost forgotten that Kenny had once looked healthier and not so broken.

"I'm itchy." Clementine complained as she scratched her arms.

"Well, you slept in a barn, little lady. Lucky you don't have spiders in your hair," Kenny teased. This caused Clementine to gasp and look at her hair. "But I bet your daddy scared them all away."

"Oh, I'm not her dad," Lee commented. "Name's Lee."

"Kenny." Kenny introduced himself as they shook hands.

"Dad, we're going to build a fence!" an anesthetic Duck appeared outside of the barn. "There's a tractor and everything!"

Lee's eyes widened. That tractor was the reason Shawn died. He had to think of something to save him.

"Hey, you okay?" Kenny inquired, waving his hand in front of his face.

"Uh, I'm fine," Lee replied. "Listen...I don't mean to nag or anything, but I've been told that the tractor can turn on if it's handled wrongly. It might be safer if your son doesn't play on it."

""Play on it?"" Kenny repeated, his eyebrows arched curious. "Why would my boy play on it?"

As if on cue, Duck could be heard asking Katjaa (who was sitting at the same spot as before) if he could play on the tractor. Clementine looked up at Lee, a little curious. She took his hand in hers.

"Well, if you say so, got enough problems out there as it is." Kenny replied as the three of them proceeded outside to join the others.

As the joined the others, Kenny told his son that it was unsafe to go on the tractor. Duck looked a little disappointed, but Lee knew that he might have just saved a life.

"Well, we better get to work." Shawn suggested. "I'll get to work on the fence."

"I can keep an eye on your little girl for you," Katjaa offered. "We can visit."

Lee nodded, and Clementine took a seat next to Katjaa on the haystack.

Meanwhile, Lee went to go and keep an eye on Shawn and speak to him for a while just as an extra precaution. Duck was there too, but he was sitting by a tree instead.

"You need a hand, Shawn?" Lee asked, knowing that he would be cutting some wood.

"Sure, could do with some extra wood, thanks." Shawn accepted his offer while he continued working on his own work. "Just get each wood and cut it in half."

Lee obliged, taking some wood and a saw, and began cutting through. Shawn told him the same story about the guy who killed a little boy, and once again, all he could do was shake his head and mutter, "Damn."

"I hope this situation gets better soon." Shawn hoped while he counted the amount of wood that Lee had chopped up. "All right, I think that'll do for now. Thanks Lee."

Lee nodded and proceeded to go and speak to Hershel. Along the way, he knew that this situation was not going to get better, but at least he was going to try to make the best of it this time.

He walked into the barn and noticed Hershel raking hay once again. He was prepared to receive the same question, and lecture.

And the same thing happened with Hershel giving him a lecture on trust. However, this time, a scream from Shawn did not happen and alert them to him. So far he had saved one life.

"Thanks," Lee decided to acknowledge. Since Shawn was still alive, he decided to leave the barn, but he wasn't exactly sure what would happen now this time around.

He decided to go and speak to Kenny for a while since he had nothing better to do for a while.

Kenny was still working on his truck, and Lee had only spoken to him briefly. "Hey, Kenny."

"Heya Lee." Kenny greeted while he was still busy messing around with the engine of the truck. "How you and Clementine doing?"

Lee turned back to look at Clementine, who was still happily conversing with Katjaa. "I think we're okay," he answered, smiling slightly. "What about your family?"

"They're good, I think." Kenny replied as he leaned out from his hood. He sighed as he repeated the same story as before. "We were heading back from Kat's sister's when all this started, one of those monsters grabbed my boy at a gas station. I thought he was kidnapping him; I was on the fucker in about two seconds. And Christ...Just lucky I was there."

Lee nodded. He remembered that Kenny would do anything to protect his family. He knew that Kenny had a boat, so he didn't need to ask about the plan. Maybe this time, they could actually find a boat. But the chances of that were quite low.

"So got any plans?" Kenny inquired. "You could tag along with us if you want."

"I'd appreciate that," Lee replied honestly. He knew that his parents and brother were dead, but he knew that he would have to head to Macon to prevent more of the deaths. "I was thinking of hiding out in Macon. Maybe at the motel or even the drugstore."

"Well Macon's on the way, so might as well." Kenny agreed while he closed the hood of his truck and proceeded to test out the engine. "Besides, if all this turned bad, we could always hop on my boat and wait until the Government sorts this mess out."

"That...could be a little while," Lee said slowly, but Kenny most likely didn't hear him, because the truck then started at that point.

"Yes!" Kenny cheered excitedly. "God-damn, I got it!"

Now that the truck was working, the small group gathered around and the outside of the farm to bid each other farewell.

"Thanks for taking care of me and my family, Hershel." Kenny thanked as he shook Hershel's hand.

"Take care of yourself and Clementine, Lee." Shawn told Lee as he offered him a handshake.

"Thanks. Good luck," Lee replied as he shook Shawn's hand. He turned and gave Hershel a nod. "Thanks for letting us stay."

"No problem." Hershel assured with a nod.

With that said and done, the group of five got into the truck and now they were on their way to Macon. Lee, however, had to prepare himself for what lies ahead, for starters, Larry.

Now that he thought about it, should he help Larry get his medicine? The dude was short tempered and was even willing to let Lee die without any remorse.

He had good two or so hours to think about it. But he knew that if he didn't, Lilly would be all over his ass for it. Speaking of Lilly, could he prevent her from shooting Carley down the road?

He would decide later, first he had to save both Carley and Doug from danger. He was not sure how he was going to do this yet, but he had to try. Last time, he relied purely on instinct and saved Carley.

It was Duck who did most of the talking on the way to Macon, but the others managed to gets words in as well. Some of the conversation was the same, although some things changed.

* * *

In the late afternoon, Kenny's truck stopped at the exact spot it had the last time.

"Well, end of the line." Kenny announced as they stepped out of the vehicle.

Duck walked around the area, looking around cautiously until he noticed someone nearby. "There's someone over there." he announced, pointing towards the figure.

Lee remembered what happened last time. Kenny yelled towards them, thinking they were people.

Once again, a small horde of walkers began to surround them, and Duck screamed. A walker had fallen on top of him and was getting ready to bite him when it was shot dead. Carley had saved him with her trusty Glock 17. Duck ran back to his parents, who both wrapped their arms around him.

"Get inside!" Carley ordered as she fired more rounds.

Before running inside, Lee quickly ran towards his brother Brian who was trapped underneath a power line pole. He wished he could say goodbye again, but he did not waste a second and quickly retrieved the keys. Brian had tried to attack him, but Lee was able to get them without killing him.

Like before, everyone ran inside the drugstore and Glenn quickly locked the gate with a combination lock.

"Lee, what the fuck were you doing?" Kenny inquired as they ran inside.

Lee sighed, and held up the keys to the pharmacy. "Just in case."

"How did you know he had the keys?" Kenny questioned, crossing his arms together.

"We can't keep taking stupid risks like this!" Lilly told Carley in a harsh tone.

"And we can't just let people die either!" Carley clashed.

"They could have leaded them right to us!" Larry chimed in.

"They have kids, Lilly!" Glenn tried to defend them.

"Those things outside don't care!" Lilly reminded them, placing a hand to her hip.

"Then why don't you go and join them?" Kenny suggested. And this is where the whole Lilly-Kenny war began. "Maybe you'll have something in common."

Clementine took Lee's hand in her own. "Lee, I need to use the bathroom."

"Clem, wait a minute, okay?" Lee chided, but he used a gentler tone than he had before.

"Okay." Clementine nodded and let go of his hand.

Katjaa, in the meantime, took her son over to the counter to clean him up. Lee had the feeling he knew what was going to happen next.

"Ho-ly shit. Son of a bitch, one of them is bitten!" Larry cried.

_"(Here we go again.)"_ Lee thought.

"He weren't bit; it's just some walker blood!" Carley spoke up. "I saw it happen, the kid's fine."

"He wasn't bitten!" Lee added, glaring at Larry. He had almost forgotten what a pain in the ass this man was.

"Goddamn it, Lilly, you have to control these people!" Larry turned to his daughter.

"Carley and Glenn just ran out there!" Lilly defended herself, pointing towards the exit of the store.

"Everyone calm the fuck down!" Carley suggested.

This dialogue was still slightly different to what Lee remembered last time. Nevertheless, it appeared to be turning out the same.

"We have to end this, right here and right now!" Larry ordered, and he began to approach a frightened Duck.

"Over my dead body." Kenny growled as he stood in front of Larry, refusing to let him harm his son in anyway.

"We'll dig one hole," Larry hissed.

"There's no bite!" Katjaa cried out in fear. "See? He's fine, I'm cleaning him up!"

"Nobody is doing anything!" Lilly spoke up, standing beside her father.

"Don't you fucking people get it?" Larry screeched. "If we let him stay, then we're all fucked!"

That was when Lee decided to step in, standing next to Kenny. "NO! You don't touch that boy! If you want him, you're going to have to go through me, you old fuck!" He didn't care about what these people thought of him at the moment.

This time, Clementine had not tried to go into the bathroom yet. There was no danger, for now at least.

As Larry stared harshly towards Lee, Katjaa finished cleaning Duck up and checked him one more time for any injuries. "No, no, he's not bitten, look, he's clean! Not a scratch."

"Not a scratch, huh?" Kenny told Larry, finally proving him wrong. "What do you got to say to that pal?"

Larry looked over and glared at Kenny's wife and son before looking back at him. "Fine. I'm sorry."

"Good." Kenny commented.

"Now can we all just chill out please?" Carley requested as she stepped forward, acting as a leader for once. "Look, we've all been through a lot, it's been a fucked-up day. Let's just all chill out and relax, all right?"

"You got it." Kenny agreed with a nod.

"I'd like that." Katjaa agreed.

"I can watch the door," Doug offered, speaking up for the first time. Lee remembered that he had been pretty quiet last time as well.

"Well, if we're staying here for a while, might as well get comfortable." Kenny suggested as he stepped forward with his hands to his hips. "You, in the green shirt, you're our lookout. And you, what did you say your name was?"

"It's Lilly." she answered in a now calmer tone. "My dad's Larry."

"I'm Carley." Carley introduced herself.

"Get some rest, Carley, you're a good shot." Kenny suggested. "And you, with the cap, what's your name?"

"I'm Glenn," Glenn said with a short nod.

"And I'm Doug," Doug raised his hand.

Lee knew that Clementine still had to go to the bathroom, but he wanted to get in there first to avoid any problems that may happen, knowing that there was a walker in there that had tried to attack her.

Lee?" Clementine spoke up. "I still need to pee."

Lee nodded. "Just one more minute, Clementine. Okay?"

He didn't wait for an answer and slowly approached the bathroom, grabbing a pocket knife that his mother, Katherine, always kept hidden in case of severe emergencies. The others wondered what he was doing.

"Lee?" Kenny called out to him. "What are you doing sneaking around?"

Lee looked back at him. "I think it might be best to make sure nothing's in here," he replied. He turned to Lilly. "Have you inspected the place securely?"

"Everywhere except that room." Lilly replied. "We couldn't find the keys to that room or the pharmacy."

Lee nodded and got the knife ready, opening the door and backing away quickly. He could hear the walker's groans, meaning that it wasn't close enough to pop out at him.

The walker slowly emerged out from the bathroom and made its way towards its first prey: Lee. However, with his past experience, Lee stabbed the walker into its head and pushed it back inside.

"Nice." Kenny praised from nearby.

Lee went into the bathroom and checked everywhere to make sure it was safe before letting Clementine go inside. Carley was giving him a suspicious sideways glance, which made him remember that she knew who he was.

He also knew that it was soon time for Glenn to go to the motor inn to retrieve gas, but he was sure if that woman would be there this time.

"Lee, a word." Kenny requested from nearby from his family.

"Sure," Lee nodded, and walked towards Kenny and his family. "What's up?"

"Well, just wanted to thank you for the help back there." Kenny thanked with a supportive. "I was ready to give that old man hell. Thanks Lee."

"Yes thank you, Lee." Katjaa added.

Lee smiled. "Don't mention it. He's a little boy; I couldn't let Larry do that to your son."

"Thanks again." Kenny thanked a second time, but now he spoke up with another question. "So about the keys. How did you know that guy out there had them on him?"

Lee had to come up with something quick. "I...I was close with the people that owned this store," he explained. "That guy...he always had the keys. I took them in case we needed them."

"Oh." Kenny seemed satisfied with that answer and decided not to speak about it further. "You must have been close with them then to know that."

A lot closer than Kenny thought, but he didn't need to know that.

"Yeah, I was," Lee replied with a nod. He decided to leave Kenny's family alone for now, and walked away. This time, however, he noticed that Larry's heart hadn't stopped him down this time.

But even though they did not need the pills, they needed gas and that's why Lee went to go to speak with Glenn

"Hey man." Glenn greeted with a nod.

"Hey," Lee replied. He glanced back over at Kenny before turning back to the Asian man. "Uh, you said you were going to that motor inn, right?"

"Yep." Glenn confirmed with a nod. "I was going to round up as much gas as possible for my car and the other guy's truck. I know Macon at the back of my mind."

"Maybe someone should go with you, in case something happens," Lee suggested.

"Uh, sure, couldn't hurt I guess." Glenn agreed as he narrowed his eyes around, trying to decide on whom to pick. "Carley's a good shot, but I think she should stay here just in case. Kenny has his family, Doug's not that great...How about you, Lee?"

"I can go," Lee replied. "Let me check on Clementine, and then we can head out."

"All right." Glenn nodded and stood nearby until he was done.

Clementine was in the same positive as before, casually swinging her legs back and forth. Kenny was with his family by the counter, Lilly and Larry were trying to open the pharmacy (not knowing Lee had the keys), Doug was keeping watch, and Carley was messing around with the radio.

Lee walked over and knelt down to Clementine's level. "Hey, Clem, listen. I need to go with Glenn to the motel for a little while," he said. "I'll be back soon. Do you need anything before I go?"

"Maybe I'm a little hungry." Clementine answered quietly.

"I'll see to that," Lee noted. He got up and looked around for an energy bar. He also got another one for Duck.

He went back to Clementine first. "Here you go."

"Thank you." Clementine thanked as she took the energy bar gratefully.

Lee found a total of four of them all together. He decided to go and feed Duck while he debated on who he would give the other two for.

"It's not much, but here. Duck might be hungry," Lee said as he handed the second one to Kenny, who took it gratefully.

"Aw, thanks Lee, he appreciates it." Kenny thanked and expressed his gratitude.

"That's really sweet, Lee." Katjaa praised.

"No problem," Lee replied. He decided to give the last two energy bars to Carley and, reluctantly, Larry. Lilly seemed to be grateful. He then made his way back to Glenn.

"You ready?" Lee asked.

"Yep, I'm ready." Glenn assured with a nod. "Let's try to make this quick."

Lee and Glenn headed out the back door, the former making a note to give Lilly the keys once they were back. For now, their priority was to get some gas and possibly deal with the girl in the motor inn again to which Lee was not looking to one bit.

* * *

**That's chapter 2 finished, ladies and gentlemen. Lee was able to prevent Shawn Greene from dying, but there are still more lives to save along the way. Stay tuned for chapter 3.**


	3. Chapter 3: Carley and Doug

**Redemptive Opportunities**

**Chapter 3: Carley and Doug**

**Hey everyone, we're back with the next chapter. I know it's been a couple of days, but it'll be worth the wait I can assure you. Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

The two proceeded towards the Motor Inn with Lee wondering how they were going to get past the whole woman-in-trouble incident. She got bit so why bother helping her?

This was going to be a bit of a problem since Glenn was going to want to help her.

They pulled up to the motor inn and exited the car. Like before, there were walkers roaming around the place.

"Got a plan here, Lee?" Glenn whispered as they took cover behind a wall.

Lee reviewed in his mind what had happened previously.

"If we can sneak behind that RV, we can take out those walkers there," Lee whispered.

"You got a weapon?" Glenn inquired, quickly taking a quick glimpse around the corner.

Lee pulled out the pocket knife he had used to kill the walker in the bathroom. He had remembered to clean it off. "Got it right here."

"Well, after you." Glenn offered, gesturing his hand towards the RV.

Lee obliged, getting into position. He quietly yet quickly tip-toed over to the RV, whistling for the walker. The walker heard him and began to approach, and once it was close enough, he stabbed it in the head.

"Dude, sick." Glenn praised silently.

Lee nodded and the two made their way over to the other side of the RV where they noticed the walker resting against the truck. Last time they used a pillow and Carley's gun to get past, but now they had to rely on their only weapons.

"Hmm, let's see what we can do," Lee thought out loud, keeping his knife handy.

Slowly, Lee got his weapon ready while Glenn grabbed onto a pillow to use as an advantage. Quickly, Glenn covered up the walkers face and Lee stabbed it through the head, killing it at long last.

Glenn opened the truck and picked up the same spark plug as before and went back to the other truck. He broke the window open silently with ease and grabbed the screwdriver. "I got us another weapon." he whispered.

"Good thinking," Lee praised as Glenn handed him the screwdriver. "I think there's a way into that truck over there, too."

Glenn nodded and they both opened up the truck. Turing off the breaks, the truck rolled back and trapped the walker against the wall, right next to the fire axe.

Lee slammed the screwdriver into the walker's head and then broke into the glass that held the fire axe. He held it out for Glenn to see, smiling.

"Nice weapon." Glenn complemented, taking a quickly look around the area. "Let's get the gas and get going."

The woman had not yet screamed this time and had not alerted them to her. This could go a lot better than before.

Lee knew that they had to be quick, however, if that woman did happen to be up there. He lead Glenn back over to where the gas cans were and grabbed some. Glenn grabbed the rest.

"Let's get going before more of them show up." Glenn suggested, and Lee nodded in agreement.

* * *

Quickly, the duo ran back down the road towards Macon and slipped back into town unnoticed, getting inside via the backdoor.

"We made it back," Lee announced.

"Joy," Larry muttered sarcastically.

Lee ignored him and turned to Kenny. "How was everything here?"

"Good. Nice and quiet too." Kenny answered. "Duck's feeling a lot better than before. But the older fucker and his daughter don't want to leave until they get that pharmacy open. I say we let them stay."

Lee raised his eyebrows, feeling around in his pocket where the keys were. "What do you suppose we do?" he inquired.

"Lee, I don't trust them two for a second." Kenny admitted, keeping his voice low to prevent others from hearing him. He looked over his shoulder for a moment to see Glenn and Katjaa sorting the gas cans out. "They didn't even want to help us, we'd be dead if it weren't for Carley, Doug and Glenn. I say we get the gas and bounce."

Now, Lee knew he had a choice to make. Ditch Larry and Lilly, or bring everyone? Either way, he would likely be preventing a death, but there was a chance that the walkers could overrun the store.

"Lee, he tried to kill my boy." Kenny reminded him. "Imagine if it was Clementine who got covered in muck and then he tried to kill her. What would you do?"

Lee had to admit, he was conflicted. And if it HAD been Clementine covered in muck, would Kenny had stuck by him?

"I would do the same as you," Lee admitted. "You think we should get the others and vote on it?"

Jan 18"Sure, I guess." Kenny agreed with a shrug. "Why don't you go and ask Carley, Doug and Glenn? See what they think since they've been here longer."

"Will do," Lee replied. He decided to walk to Carley first. She still seemed to be fiddling around with the radio.

Jan 18Carley noticed him walking by and drifted her attention away from the radio. "Hey. How did it go? Did you get gas?"

"It went well, and we managed to get gas," Lee replied. "Are you okay?"

"I'm going okay, I guess." Carley shrugged. "Just been messing around with this radio, trying to get it working. I thought it'd be useful."

"Did you try the batteries?" Lee asked. Carley turned the radio around and opened the battery compartment, and sure enough, there were no batteries.

"Oh. Um, I knew that." Carley lied, but Lee knew that was not really. This was his second time hearing this and he still found it to be funny. "No, I didn't."

Lee couldn't hide the chuckle that escaped. "I'll find some for you."

"Thanks." Carley thanked.

Before Lee left, he proceeded to go and ask her about Lilly and Larry.

"So, I need to ask you something," he said, and Carley nodded and let him proceed. "Kenny thinks we should leave Lilly and Larry here. They didn't bother to help us, but what do you think? Should we leave them, or bring them?"

Carley arched an eyebrow for a moment and looked over towards the two who were still trying to get the gate open. "If I'm being honest, I wouldn't really mind either way. Let's face it, they wanted to not help you, the only reason I'm here is because me, Doug and Glenn ran in here for safety. Besides, this is your parents drugstore, Lee."

Lee frowned and stared at the tile floor. So Carley was neutral with whatever decision he came up with. "Okay. I'll...go find you some batteries now." He walked away, remembering exactly where the batteries were.

Before he left, Carley took his arm and turned him back towards her. "I know who you are, Lee, and what you did. Didn't you hear me just say? You didn't exactly show emotion just now."

Lee had heard every word. Carley beckoned him to a corner so that they could talk privately. She said almost the same monologue as before.

"I didn't tell anyone who I was," he half-lied when she was finished. "I've been sticking to first names for a reason."

He decided to find a right time to tell some people about his past, but now was not that time.

"Well you seem like a good guy and you certainly handle yourself well." Carley praised. "Look, you've got this little girl to take care of now. I would tell everyone who you are, but not now though. We got enough problems to deal with."

"You're right," Lee replied. He knew he could trust Carley with his secret since she had kept it last time, too.

"Well, I better not keep you." Carley told him. "If you find those batteries, that'd be great."

Lee didn't say anything more, and walked off. He picked the batteries off of the shelves and approached Carley again. He decided to place the batteries inside for her since she couldn't get it.

"You did it!" Carley praised.

Like before, the radio began to broadcast the live message from WABE about the situation with the man on the radio trying to assure them that everything was under control, but then the sounds of walkers breaking inside was heard.

"Oh, my God." Carley gasped.

"Jesus..." Lee muttered under his breath. The screams that were heard moments later made a few of the people in the drugstore jump.

The radio was then switched off to stop people from hearing anymore.

"Fuck me." Carley muttered.

"I'm sorry, Carley," Lee looked at her sympathetically.

"Thanks Lee, means a lot." Carley replied with a small smile.

Lee, in the meantime, decided to go and talk to Doug for a while.

Doug was still on watch by the door, but Lee didn't want to go outside since he already had the keys. Doug turned to him as he approached.

"Hey, Doug," Lee greeted.

"Oh, hey. Lee, right?" Doug questioned in case he got his name wrong.

"Yeah," Lee answered. "Everything alright over here?"

"Yep, it's good." Doug assured. "You up for taking a look outside?"

"Uh, not right now," Lee replied with a short shake of his head. He turned around to make sure that Lilly and Larry weren't listening. "So...Lilly, and her dad. When we leave, do you think they should come with us? Kenny wants to leave them."

"I see." Doug nodded, his eyebrows were arched curiously. "Well, I won't lie, Larry's a dick, but Lilly is keeping the group together...Sort of...I don't know."

"I think there's still a bit of time to think about it," Lee replied. And this was true as he still wasn't sure about giving Lilly the keys. But then again, it HAD gotten him on her good side.

"All right." Doug nodded.

Lee glanced at Larry and Lilly once again, and their backs were still turned to him (although he could hear Lilly swearing not-so-quietly under her breath). Maybe he should give her the keys?

"Do what you got to do, Lee." Doug told him as he continued keeping watch.

Lee nodded and bid him good-bye for now. He stood there for a moment. If he gave her the keys, the alarm would sound, which would bring in the walkers, which would lead to the choice between Carley and Doug.

How he would save them both though was the real question? Maybe he could tell them to stay away from windows or once he saves one, immediately go for the other. Last time he did this, Lee threw Carley a clip but he stood there to make sure she was safe.

First, he decided to go talk to Glenn. He decided that he would give Lilly the keys, just not right this minute.

"Hey Lee." Glenn greeted with a slight nod. "I noticed you speaking to Carley for a little while. Everything good?"

"Yeah...everything's good." Lee figured that this was the truth, at least he hoped so. He asked Glenn the same thing about Lilly and Larry, wanting to know his answer.

"Well, they're not exactly the nicest people in the world, Lee, but if this situation gets any worse, then we're going to need all the help we can get." Glenn answered while folding his arms together.

Lee made note of that, and that was when he made his decision. He may have been going against Kenny (again), but he believed in strength in numbers. "Alright, then," he said.

But it's not his opinion, it was the voting that would count in the end. Since that was pretty much everyone, Lee decided to go and check on Clementine.

He knelt down to her level where she was still sitting quietly. "Hey, Clem. Are you doing okay?"

"I'm okay." Clementine nodded with a small smile. "Are you okay?"

"I'm as good as I can be," Lee responded truthfully. He wondered if she remembered anything. "Is there...anything else you need?"

"No, I'm good for now." Clementine assured with a nod.

"That's good," Lee gave a smile, then stood up. It was time to give Lilly the keys, but he was still unsure about Carley and Doug.

"Dad, I think we should give up." Lilly told her father. "We can't open this gate and the door back in the office is steel. We aren't breaking through it."

"The fuck we will!" Larry argued. "We can break-"

"Lilly?" Lee interrupted, just in time before things got worse. She turned to look back at him. "I think you might need something. I found these." He held out of the keys.

Lilly's eyes widened and she took the keys gratefully. "Jesus, you're amazing. Where did you find these? We've been looking everywhere.

"They were hidden on one of the shelves," Lee lied. He knew that the truth would only change her attitude, and he was sure that no one wanted that.

"Great." Lilly practically ran into the office and immediately opened the door, setting the alarm off.

With the gate still locked, that would buy them sometime. Now Lee had to figure out how to save both Carley and Doug while trying to figure out how to avoid Larry hitting him.

So far, nobody needed to block the door since the gates were locked. But they could still hear the growls of the walkers coming from outside.

"Fuck, what are we going to do?!" Glenn exclaimed.

"Stay away from the windows," Lee warned, but this time he wasn't only talking to Clementine.

"I'm going to go and pull out my truck. When you hear me start honking, move out!" Kenny shouted while he turned towards Lee, needing his weapon. "Lee, I might need that axe of yours!"

"Duck, come on baby. Time to go," Katjaa told her son, getting him ready. The two of them ran out of the drugstore.

Lee tossed the axe over to Kenny without hesitation, and the mustached man ran back outside. The windows, however, were already in poor shape, and they would break through at any second.

"They're getting in!" Carley announced as she took out her Glock 17 and began to take them down.

Doug ran over to one of the boards and attempted to hold it up as he had before.

Lee took his father's cane and kept it in his arms just in case the walkers got through the gate.

Lee spun around when he noticed both Carley and Doug were in the same position again, and if he was not quick, he would be put in the situation again where he had to chose.

"Ahh!" Doug screamed as walkers grabbed onto him from the outside.

"Ammo. My purse!" Carley called while attempting to grab onto her purse that was out of her reach. A walker was gripped onto her ankle.

Lee turned and noticed Clementine standing there frightened, not knowing what to do. "Clementine! Give Carley her purse; I'm going to get Doug!"

Clementine nodded and quickly grabbed Carley's purse, throwing it over to the older woman.

Carley quickly caught her purse and took out a clip, reloading it into her pistol. She shot the approaching walker just in time and then shot the one grabbing her ankle.

"Help me!" Doug pleaded, trying to get free from the walker's grip.

Lee quickly ran over to the bigger man and pulled him free from the walkers' grasp. He turned and was content to see that Carley was safe, as Clementine had been the one to save her life.

"Come on!" Lee shouted to all of them. But there was only one obstacle left, and that was Larry.

"Let's go!" Kenny called out to the group.

Like before, a walker appeared out of nowhere and grabbed onto Clementine's ankle. Lee kicked the walker until it was dead and departed straight for the exit.

Larry was still walking towards the door to let everyone out. Because of this, Lee was able to dodge the older and therefore stronger man, but Larry still tried to pull him back anyway. Kenny noticed this and charged back towards Lee. Either he was willing to save his friend, take revenge on Larry, or both. He punched Larry straight in his gigantic nose, causing the older man to finally release his grip.

"Thanks," Lee gave Kenny a smile, and the two ran out. Before they knew it, everyone was either in Glenn's car or Kenny's pick-up, on their way back to the motel.

Lee leaned back in the seat contently, knowing that he had saved three lives today.

* * *

**That's the end of chapter 3, ladies and gentlemen. Lee has done it; he's saved Carley and Doug from their terrible fate with the help of Clementine of course. Stay tuned for chapter 4.**


	4. Chapter 4: the motor inn

**Redemptive Opportunities**

**Chapter 4: the motor inn  
**

**Hey, hey, what's up, ladies and gentlemen? We're back with chapter 4 of the story. A little shorter compared to the other chapters, but I can assure you the next chapter will be longer. In the meantime, enjoy reading, everyone.**

* * *

Like before, the remaining members of their group made their way to the motor inn. However, once they were there, they noticed two walkers banging on a motel door with a screaming Irene on the other side.

It was time to do it again.

"Someone's in there!" Glenn panicked as he raised the axe that Kenny had given him. "We got to save her!"

"Shit..." Lee muttered. He knew that there was nothing they could do to actually save her, but was it really worth letting her die crying and screaming in that room?

"Let's go!" Glenn told them, and he and Carley ran to the top of the stairs. Glenn was not the strongest of survivors, but he seemed to handle himself pretty well with the axe. Once they were dealt with, he went to the door. "Hey! It's okay now."

"No, no, no, please go away!" Irene begged. She sobbed quite loudly. "You're...you're bitten! GET AWAY!"

"I'm not bitten!" Glenn reassured. "Please, just open the door. We want to help you."

"You can't help me, it's too late!" Irene argued. She opened the door when Glenn threatened to bash it open.

"What do you mean?" Carley inquired. She had her gun ready job in case.

"I just...I just can't be helped!" Irene pleaded. "Please, you don't want to help me. Just leave!"

"Look, just stay calm." Glenn told her.

That's when Irene noticed the gun.

"You...you have a gun..." she spoke softly, and sniffled."Can I...?"

"Ma'am...think about what you're doing," Lee stated cautiously. He still wasn't keen on people giving up.

Unfortunately, she didn't listen and lunged for the gun. The four of them fell from the balcony. When they landed on the ground, Irene got to the gun and aimed it at her head.

"Miss...Come on now," Lee tried to coax. He held out his hand, very slowly reaching for the gun. "It's going to be okay. We can find help for you, and-" He was cut off when Irene put her finger on the trigger. "No. NO!"

BAM!

Irene had shot herself in the head, falling face first to the ground. Lee looked down remorsefully; unlike the others, he had failed to save her. Glenn immediately turned over and started throwing up.

"Jesus Christ." Kenny gasped.

Clementine was startled by this and grabbed onto Lee's hand.

Larry grabbed her corpse and dragged it away out if sight, showing little respect.

Lee gave Clementine's hand a gentle squeeze while glaring after Larry. He had a strong feeling in his gut that he might have been like this before the apocalypse as well.

"Dear God..." Katjaa whispered.

Once Larry returned, Kenny marched towards him like a rampaging bull. He jabbed his finger against his chest. "Now that we're safe, you and your princess can get out of here!"

"What's going on?" Doug inquired.

"This fat fuck tried to kill Lee!" Kenny answered.

"My daughter and I aren't going anywhere, you piece of shit!" Larry yelled back. Clementine hid behind Lee and peeked out. Kenny and Larry glared at one another, their faces just inches apart. "And I won't hesitate to throw YOU to the walkers as well, so just try me, you pussy!"

"Don't fucking tempt me, old man!" Kenny snapped. "My boy wasn't good enough, was he? So now you try and kill Lee! What the fuck did he ever do to you?!"

Kenny shoved Larry back.

"Lee, why did Larry try and hurt you?" Clementine inquired silently.

At that, Larry punched Kenny square in the jaw, sending him down to the ground. Katjaa ran and knelt next to her husband.

"I don't trust any rednecks!" Larry taunted further, crossing his arms.

Kenny wasn't going down like that. Despite the warnings from his wife, he got up and punched Larry back

"KENNY! STOP!" Katjaa yelled.

"Just keep Duck away, Kat," Kenny replied, only giving his wife a sideways glance.

While they were fighting, the group gathered around and tried to stop them. Carley, Doug, Glenn, and Lilly attempted to talk them down in unison, but neither of the men was listening.

"Kenny, stop!"

"Larry, knock it off!"

"Guys, just stop! It's not worth it!"

"Dad, no!"

"DON'T YOU FUCKING PEOPLE GET WHAT HE DID?!" Larry screeched, pointing over at Lee. "THAT MAN RIGHT THERE IS A FUCKING MURDERER! YEAH, I SAID IT! HE KILLED SOMEONE BEFORE THINGS WENT TO SHIT!"

This caused everyone to stare towards Lee, including Kenny who looked shocked out of his mind. "You're a murderer?"

Lee held his head down. Here he was with a second chance to make things right, and look what happened. Now the truth was out and what's worse is that he was not even the one to confess. Now how was the group going to treat him from this point forward?

There was an awkward moment of silence. No-one was sure on what to say to this sudden outburst from Larry. Lee wanted nothing more than to just punch Larry for what he did.

Doug was the first to speak up and he stood beside Lee. His next words were surprising to Lee. "I don't care. Lee may be a murderer, yeah, but have you seen the world we're in right now? Lee saved my life back there. He's a great guy and I'd trust him to save me any day."

"Not to mention," Carley added, "That's a skill that can come in handy."

"He can take down those things, they're the bad guys," Duck chimed in.

Kenny looked somewhat hesitate at first, but before long, he joined the others standing beside Lee. He wiped the blood from his nose that had been received by Larry. "Lee, I've only known you for a short time, but you're a great guy so far. I know that if you truly were a killer, you wouldn't have taken that little girl into your care and protect her from those monsters. And if it weren't for you, I don't know what would have happened when that drugstore got raided. I'm with you, Lee, but I need to know what you did exactly."

Lee took a deep breath, remembering that he hadn't told the full story. So, he began his tale.

"My wife, she traveled for work, and I didn't like that. I wanted a family, kids. She hadn't willingly spent time with me and months, and I figured out why. I was sick one day, so I cancelled class and went home. That's when I found them in my bed, her and the senator." Lee clenched his fists. "I was so angry, so betrayed, and I didn't know how to control it. So I picked up a baseball bat and began hitting the guy, and didn't stop until he was dead. It was a mistake. I shouldn't have killed him."

Now that his story was off his chest, he couldn't help but feel slightly better. Still though, he wondered if the group's opinion of him would still change.

"Well, Lee, it was a stupid choice, but if I were in your shoes, I probably would've done the same." Kenny reassured, rising a somewhat smile under that moustache of his. And he weren't wrong there. Kenny had a bad temper if he got angry.

"Lee, you're a good guy, and I like I said, you're not a bad person." Carley added. "You helped save me and Doug. That's not a criminal, that's a hero in our eyes."

Clementine took Lee's hand and gave him a smile as if she were telling him that she did not care either.

Lee smiled back down at her. He was worried about her opinion in general, but was glad that she was still with him.

"Thanks," he nodded at everyone else.

Larry only scoffed to himself and crossed his arms, walking away.

Lee now knew that the older man had nothing to blackmail him with and no longer had to feel threatened.

Like last time, the group decided to settle in and make the motor inn their home for a while. The power had not yet gone out like before, but it would not take long. As before, Glenn left to go and find his friends to which Lee wished him good luck with. He was about to go and check on Clementine, but first, he was called over.

"Hey Lee." Carley greeted from nearby with Doug. "Can you have a talk?"

Lee nodded, and walked over to where Carley and Doug were standing. "What's up, guys?"

"Carley and I just wanted to thank you for two reasons." Doug explained with a smile. "Thanks for saving us back there. When those walkers got me, I thought I had fifty-fifty chance of living. But you saved us and thanks again."

"And I wanted to thank you for telling the full truth to everyone." Carley thanked with a nod. "I know it must be hard, especially because of Larry exposing you like that."

"I'm not worried about Larry," Lee shook his head. "But...yeah, it wasn't easy," he added with a shrug. "I couldn't let you guys die so easily."

"And we thank you for that, Lee." Doug assured with a nod.

"Yeah, thanks again, Lee." Carley smiled. She looked towards the RV to see Clementine speaking with Duck (more like Duck rambling on). "Why don't you go and check on your girl?"

"I'll do that," Lee answered. "You guys take it easy for now."

He walked off then, and found Clementine sitting down by the RV, with Duck yammering off in her ear like the last time.

"Hey...Duck. Can Clementine and I talk alone for a minute?" Lee requested.

"Okay," Duck nodded, and ran over to where his parents were.

"Hey Lee." Clementine greeted while he was holding her now broken walkie-talkie in her hands. Well, at least she thought it was anyway. "My walkie-talkie broke when that monster grabbed me."

That reminded Lee that he still had the other walkie-talkie since he didn't give it to Glenn this time. But he had to make sure that she got no batteries from the station wagon. But that would only be if he could convince the group not to go to the St. John's in three months.

That reminded him, too, that they should handle rations a little more carefully if they didn't want to starve.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Clem," Lee said sympathetically, bending down to her level.

"I guess I'll just keep this one anyway." Clementine spoke silently.

Before Lee could reply, the power from the motel was cut off and the group was left in darkness.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" Duck cried out.

"Great," Lee muttered. But he knew that there was nothing he could do about the power. He was just glad that everyone had gotten out of the drugstore alive and well.

"Nobody panic." Kenny assured as he got two flashlights out from the RV and threw one to Lilly. "The power should come back when this mess is sorted out. In the meantime, we better pick our rooms."

"Come on, Clementine," Lee said, and she hopped down and took his hand. They picked the same room as before, with two beds. The beds weren't the most comfortable in the world, but it was better than the ground.

The two prepared to drift off into a deep sleep after everything that had happened to them today. Clementine fell asleep almost immediately, but Lee was still awake, thinking about the changes he made. So far he had been able to save Shaun and Doug. If he kept this up, he could save Mark, Larry (even though he hated him), Ben, Travis, and many others.

* * *

**And that's the end of this chapter, folks. Lee's past has been exposed thanks to Larry, but the good thing is that the group are still supportive of him regardless. Chapter 5 coming soon.**


	5. Chapter 5: meeting Mark

**Redemptive Opportunities**

**Chapter 5: meeting Mark**

**Hey everyone, Assassin here. I was going to update yesterday, but due to personal problems, I had to put it off. I'm going to bring ya'll the next chapter tomorrow. Enjoy reading, I guess.**

* * *

Nearly two weeks had passed since the group had reached the motor inn. Just like before, they were beginning to run out of food. Lee knew that the time would soon come to meet Mark at the commissary in downtown Macon, but again, they would have to handle rations more carefully this time.

Lee and Kenny were getting ready to drive the pick-up to look for supplies, which Lee knew wouldn't be too hard. He heard Clementine run up to them just before they left.

"Are you going now?" she asked.

"Yep, but we won't be long, Clementine." Lee assured as he knelt down to her height. "Just stay inside the motor inn and keep in sight with the others, okay?"

"Okay," Clementine answered, giving Lee a small smile. He watched her run over to Duck before getting into the truck with Kenny.

"Shouldn't be too long over here," Kenny said as he started the ignition.

"Good, the less we stay out there, the better." Lee agreed as he got into the passenger side. He grabbed a map stored in the glove compartment. "I'm thinking we should check out some of the areas in the north of Macon. We might get lucky. That and we're low on gas."

"Sounds good," Kenny replied. "Suppose there's still some gas at that gas station coming up a few miles down the road."

"Well, let's get on our way then." Lee replied as he took out Carley's Glock 17 and took the safety off, preparing for the worst.

Since the gas station was the closest, they decided to stop there first. They would have to make sure that no walkers were inside the convenience store, however.

Lee took charge and carefully slipped inside, armed with his axe. He looked around for a moment until the store was declared safe and they decided to fill up, but unfortunately, there was only enough gas left to last them for a day.

"Damn it," Kenny muttered to himself. "Better than no gas, at least. Let's fill her up."

They filled up the truck and made their way to the convenience store where they would meet Mark. Lee remembered that he would probably be hiding somewhere.

* * *

Once they arrived, Lee slowly entered the store and checked the area. Last time there was no walkers, but he was unsure if something would change this time. After all, somethings had changed so far.

Lee noticed the room near the back where Mark was hiding last time. He slowly approached it and went to open it, but the door flung open and out ran Mark with a pipe as a weapon, mistaking them for walkers.

"Whoa! Whoa, chill!" Lee shouted, quickly backing away before he got hit.

Mark looked surprised, but didn't lower his weapon. "Who are you?"

"Relax, I'm Lee and this is Kenny." Lee introduced himself, beckoning for Kenny to lower his rifle. "We're just looking for food and supplies for our people."

"And the way this place looks, there's enough to last for months," Kenny added.

"I'm Mark," Mark replied. He lowered his pipe. "You're here for food?"

"Pretty much." Lee nodded as he placed his axe over his shoulder. He knew there was tons of food in the back, but like before, he played it safe and act casual. "You know where we can find some?"

Mark looked hesitant, as if he wanted to tell them. But then he sighed. "I can give you a bunch, if you're up for an exchange."

"What kind of exchange?" Kenny asked suspiciously.

"You bring me with you, back to your camp," Mark said. "I was going to look for another hideout, but I don't suppose I would need one if I came along with you. There's a truck we can place the food in. Like you said, there's enough to last somebody for months. So, what do you say? You can have everything, but I come with you, too."

Lee answered almost immediately. "Sure, man, we'll help you load up the supplies. We have a group at a motor inn, there's quite a few of us too. Stay with us and you'll be safe for sure."

At that, Mark offered a small smile. "So it's a deal then. Great. If you could help me load the truck, I would appreciate it."

"Are you sure about this, Lee?" Kenny whispered to his friend. "How are we so sure that he won't try anything?"

"He won't." Lee reassured. "I can tell he's a good guy, trust me. Besides, why would he give us all his food and then betray us when he could have just stayed here?"

Kenny grumbled. "Good point." He turned to look at Mark. "Come on, we ought to start loading up the truck."

The trio got to work on that, all while keeping an eye out for walkers. Once the food was loaded, the three of them got into the truck and they were on their way.

* * *

They arrived at the motor inn just as gas ran out. Lee stepped out the truck and announced their returns. "We're back."

Clementine and Duck ran to greet them, and Lilly wasn't far behind. But her facial expression was, as usual, unhappy.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, who the hell is this?" she demanded, pointing at Mark. "Why are you bringing new people here?"

"Lilly, this is Mark." Lee introduced the other man. "Mark gave us food that could last us for months in exchange if we let him stay."

Lilly sized up the new man in glasses, then crossed her arms. "Fine, but one mishap and he goes. We're not a 'come one, come all' group, you know."

"We have a shit ton of food now, and you're still bitching," Kenny scoffed. "If you want proof, it's in the back." He pointed with his thumb.

Lilly just ignored him and ordered them to take the food into the RV. Doug and Carley approached the trio. Finally some friendly faces.

"Hey guys, need a hand?" Doug offered.

"Sure, thanks," Mark replied. "I'm Mark, by the way."

"Carley," the brunette reporter nodded. "This is Doug."

Clementine approached Lee then, tugging on his shirt. "Can I help, too?"

"Sure Clem." Lee smiled as he handed her a smaller box that she could carry. "Just put them in the RV."

While Clementine carried the much lighter stuff, the rest of them got to work on carrying the rest.

"You sure packed up on food." Doug stated.

"Yeah, I couldn't believe my luck when I found that commissary," Mark answered as he placed a box in the RV. "I was there for at least a week, but luckily I managed."

"Must have been hard on your own." Carley admitted as they walked back to the truck.

Mark shrugged. "Wasn't too bad."

After about fifteen minutes, they were done carrying boxes. Duck looked ecstatic at all the food since he was getting hungry. They would have to have a discussion about rations.

Now that was taken care of, Lee decided to go and check on everyone and see how they were. Clementine was coloring with Duck with Katjaa watching them, Carley was on watch, Doug was setting up an alarm, Lilly was in her room, and Larry and Mark were busy moving a couch out of one of the rooms.

Larry began yelling at Mark, who was having a little trouble. "Are you really having trouble lifting that couch?"

"Sorry," Mark replied, and picked up the couch as best he could.

Lee decided to go and check on Clementine and Duck first. "Hey Clem, Duck. Hey Katjaa."

"Hey, Lee!" Clementine greeted brightly.

"Hello, Lee," Katjaa added, and Duck gave the man a happy wave.

"Do you like it?" Clementine asked, holding up a drawing she had made of several different animals.

"I love it, Clementine." Lee smiled and praised her. He turned his attention back to Katjaa. "Anything happen while we were gone?"

"No, it's been really quiet," Katjaa answered honestly. "We may not have power, but I know it's safe here. The children are safe, and that's what I'm thankful for."

"That's good." Lee nodded to the other woman. "Now that we got more food and a new guy to help us out, things might go a lot smoother than last time."

Lee stopped himself when he realized he referred to the first time he was in this situation.

Katjaa raised an eyebrow at what he meant, but surprisingly she didn't question it. But she nodded and replied, "I hope so, Lee."

"I'll catch you later, Katjaa." Lee told her as he proceeded to go and speak with Carley for a while. He approached the younger woman who was seated at the top of the RV. "Hey."

"Hey, Lee," Carley greeted with a small smile. "I guess the supply run went pretty well this time around, huh?"

"Yep, this stuff could last us for a long time." Lee admitted, even though he knew that it would more than likely be gone by three months. "So, what do you think of Mark?"

Carley shrugged. "He seems okay so far," she admitted. "Besides, we have another person now to help keep watch and fend of the walkers."

"That's good." Lee agreed with a nod. "How were things here while I was gone? Any tension?"

"The only 'tension' was Lilly worrying about her dad, as usual," Carley shrugged. "But other than that, things were okay."

"Uh, that's good I guess." Lee nodded and decided he asked enough for now. "I'll speak to you later, Carley."

"Okay," Carley nodded.

He decided not to bother Lilly for now and searched for Doug and Mark, who were talking with one another by a pole.

"Hey guys." Lee greeted the two with a friendly wave. "Seems like you two are getting on well."

"You could say that," Mark replied. "You guys really have a security system around here?"

"Doug's been working on it for a while now, but had no luck getting it working yet." Lee explained with his arms folded.

"Could do with some more string." Doug replied, placing his hands upon his hips.

"That's smart," Mark praised. "I had some guys back at Warner Robbins who wanted to try that, too."

"Did they?...You know." Lee asked the obvious question nowadays.

Mark looked nervous then, and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. Walkers broke in. Not a lot of us got out.

"Oh." Lee nodded and decided not to question about it further. "Well, I'll catch you guys later, okay?"

"Sure, Lee, thanks," Mark said, and Doug gave him a curt nod.

There was only one more person Lee would to check on and that was Kenny, even though they had returned back only moments ago. He approached Kenny who was reading a book in a lawn chair besides the RV. "Hey Kenny."

"Hey, pal," Kenny returned the greeting, putting the book in his lap. He turned to look at Mark. "That guy probably ain't too bad after all if he's given us all this food."

"Mark's a good guy, Ken." Lee reassured as he looked over towards mentioned guy who was speaking with Doug still. "We ration food out properly and keep doing our supply runs, we should be good."

"Excellent," Kenny praised. "But...let's make sure the she-devil doesn't handle it all." He nodded towards Lilly, who was checking out the boxes of food.

"You want to do it?" Lee asked with an eyebrow arched.

"Suppose we can take shifts," Kenny suggested. "We can start later."

"All right." Lee agreed and averted his attention over towards the RV. He kept his voice down for the next part. "So still thinking of getting out of here to find a boat?"

"I got to be honest, Lee, I wouldn't mind takin' off in that RV if it means finding a boat," said Kenny. "But...this place still seems pretty secure."

"Well, let's just keep that as a back-up plan." Lee suggested, crossing his arms together a second time. "Just in case the situation doesn't get sorted out, right?"

"Right," Kenny agreed. "Good to have a Plan B in case things go south here."

"No argument here." Lee replied. He wished this time that Kenny and Lilly could just agree on something, but that was not going to happen anytime soon. "I'll catch you later, Kenny."

"Talk to you later, Lee," Kenny replied, picking up his book again.

For now, Lee figured that basically everyone was checked up on. He felt that there was no need to talk to Lilly or Larry at the moment, so he wondered what to do for the time being. There was still quite a long time until the St. Johns showed up.

He decided to get some rest for a while since it was his turn to take the shift during the afternoon. That and Lee had to get up really early this morning to go on that supply run. He checked on Clementine who was with Duck and Katjaa at the moment. He got into the room he shared with Clementine and rested on his bed.

* * *

Lee woke up to Carley shaking him only a few hours later.

"Hey, it's your watch," she said.

"All right, I'm up." Lee replied as he leaned up from his bed and put on his newly brown leather jacket that the group found in the motel among other random clothes. He accepted the rifle from Carley and the two walked out from their room.

He climbed onto the RV and took a seat on the lawn chair.

Clementine and Duck were kicking a soccer ball and running around. Lee smiled, glad that Clementine had the chance to act like a kid, for now at least. She would have to be taught how to survive soon.

Clementine looked up at the RV and waved at Lee. Lee waved back at her.

Lee kept his eyes locked onto the outside of the motor inn; his rifle was rested in his lap. So far things were quite peaceful and that was the one he liked it. It wouldn't be long until the St. John's should up in a couple of months. How Lee would avoid last time's events were uncertain, but he had to try.

At one point, Lee looked down to see Lilly approaching him from below, probably to speak to him about something.

"Lee?" Lilly called up to him, folding her arms.

The woman continued. "We need to talk about this food situation. We can't just have people going and grabbing what they want."

"Okay." Lee agreed as he leaned down better to see her. "Um, how are we going to do it?"

"We need to figure out how to ration it, especially with this new guy here," Lilly explained. "I'll also be watching him very carefully." Here she glanced over her shoulder.

"And why are you asking me exactly?" Lee inquired, a curious eyebrow raised. "You want me to do it?"

"I want you to handle it the first few days," Lilly answered. "Just so you know it won't be easy and there won't be enough for everyone."

"We'll make the best of it." Lee assured her. "Look, everyone gets one small piece of food in the morning, the afternoon, and at night. How does that sound?"

Lilly nodded once. "We can try that out."

"All right." Lee nodded in return. "You should handle it for now, I'm on watch."

"Alright," Lilly replied, and walked away. Luckily, Larry wasn't anywhere in sight to give Lee that famous look of his. Lee looked around at the forest, and nothing seemed to come out.

Lee's watch was until sunset when it would be Doug's turn to take the night shift. He had to admit that it was quite boring just sitting here, but if he did it for three months before, then he could do it again.

* * *

Time passed slowly, as it had before. He listened to a few conversations that went around the group, which was the most interesting thing to happen during his watch. When the sun began to set, Doug called up to him for shift change.

"All right." Lee replied as he jumped down from the RV and handed Doug the rifle. "Don't let the boogey man get you, Doug."

"Ha-ha, very funny, Lee," Doug replied sarcastically, but he was smirking. He climbed on top of the RV and began his own watch. Lee decided to check on Clementine, who was having a conversation with Carley.

"Hey Clementine, Carley." Lee greeted the two as he sat down on one of the lawn chairs placed it for them to sit down.

"Hey, Lee," Clementine greeted in return, smiling up at her guardian. Carley gave him a nod. "We were just talking about soccer."

"You like sports, Clementine?" Lee asked with a small smile.

Clementine shifted in her seat. "Soccer was okay," she admitted. "I joined my school's team last year."

"That's nice." Lee replied with a nod. He shifted his attention over towards Carley and asked her the same question. "What about you, Car? Interested in sports?"

"Me? Playing sports?" Carley asked with a small chuckle. "Come on, Lee, do I look like someone who could play sports without falling on my ass every five minutes?"

"Swear," Clementine chimed in innocently.

Lee chuckled in response, finding Clementine's innocence to be amusing every time. He was not going to lose her this time and that was a promise he made to himself.

"Sorry, Clementine," Carley smiled a little at the eight-year-old.

After the group had some small rations, it was time for bed. Lee took Clementine into their bedroom and he tucked Clementine in her bed before he went to sleep in her own. She was not use to sleeping on her own which is why he would stay with her until she was asleep.

Lee now highly doubted that Clementine remembered anything from before. If she did, however, then she was hiding it extremely well. Oh well. There was still a while yet before he had to save anybody.

Still, he had a couple of months until the St. John's arrived and during that time, he would relax and enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasted. Well, with the exception of the whole Lilly vs Kenny arguments that would occur not long after.

And God knew that those were never any fun. Lee was sure that their arguing gave even the kids a headache. But he didn't want to think about that now. He just wanted to get some sleep for the night.

Lee managed to sleep peacefully despite the snoring that came from a couple of the others in the rooms. Tomorrow was another "normal" day.

* * *

**That's the end for this chapter, folks. This is mainly an in-between chapter for episode 1 and episode 2 since there was a three month time gap. I'll see you all in the next chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6: three months later

**Redemptive Opportunities**

**Chapter 6: three months later  
**

**What up, everyone!? Assassin's Creed Master here with A Writer With Mixed Interests and welcome to CHAPTER 6! Yo, I need to calm down a little bit, I'm a little hype. Well, here's the next chapter, folks. I would have been earlier, but I was working on my animation. I make 2D animations in case I never mentioned it. **

**Well, I won't take up any more of your time. Enjoy reading folks, and don't forget to hit that review button.**

* * *

Three months had passed since had been brought back from the dead to make things right. So far he had saved the lives of Doug and Shaun, but today was the day the St. Johns would show up at the motel.

During early morning, Lee and Mark were out hunting together with Kenny who was not too far away. No doubt that they would be meeting Ben soon. Hopefully they could save Travis this time.

The rations were handled more properly this time around, and Lee, Kenny, and Mark were lucky to find some more supplies at a grocery store, so no one was going hungry.

Lee stabbed the same walker that was chewing on the rabbit, kicking it down. Mark walked over and loomed over the rabbit.

"Damn it," he muttered. "There goes another meal. We may not be starving, but it wouldn't hurt to have some extra, you know?"

"I'd agree with you on that one, Mark." Lee agreed as they continued walking through the forest in search of more food.

He knew that the time was coming for David Parker to be caught in the bear trap and scream out, so he decided to lead Mark into that direction so that they could get there a little faster.

"How you holding up anyway?" Lee asked while adjusting his grip on his fire axe.

"As good as I can, I suppose," Mark admitted. "I've had this creepy feeling in the back of my mind, though. Like someone's coming for me."

Lee knew exactly how he fell but this time; he was not going to let him get eaten like that. "Don't worry about it, Mark. I got your back."

"Thanks, Lee, you're a good guy," Mark replied, smiling.

A piercing scream ripped throughout the air, and it came from none other than David Parker. Lee and Mark began running in the direction in which it came from. Lee and Mark located David trapped in the bear trap with Ben and Travis watching in horror. Lee knew how this would end but decided to play dumb.

Ben jumped back when he noticed then. "Oh God! Please, we don't want trouble!"

"AHHH!" David screamed. "Get...get me...get me out of here!"

"Ben, we can't trust these guys," Travis said. "They could be the same people who raided our camp!"

"What guys?" Mark asked.

Kenny ran up to them then. "Lee, are you okay?"

"We're not bandits." Lee assured them. "We're just people."

"Please, help our teacher!" Ben pleaded. "Then let us go or whatever."

David groaned in pain, and Mark turned to Lee. "Lee, this is fucked up! We got to help them!"

Travis was trying unsuccessfully to unlatch the bear trap, but he was getting nowhere. Walkers were attracted to the sounds of David's screaming and Kenny began to hold them back with his rifle. Lee attempted to cut through the chain but it didn't work. He was going to try cutting through the tree but that would take him far too long.

Now, he had to do the inevitable once again: Cut David's leg. He probably wasn't going to make it in either situation, but it was the only possible way. Lee gave the band teacher an apologetic look before bringing the axe down to his leg. David let out another agonizing scream.

"OH GOD! OH MY GOD!" David bellowed.

Lee chopped down on David's leg a few more times it was completely off and the man passed out from blood loss and shock. "Quick, pick him up and let's go!"

Travis vomited due to the sight of his teacher's leg.

As they prepared to retreat, Ben spotted a walker approaching his friend and tried to warn him. "Travis!"

Travis turned around and fell to the ground. But Lee did some quick thinking and ran over to the scene, pulling Travis away before he could be devoured.

"You saved my life!" Travis cried, but Lee knew there wasn't any time to stick around.

"Let's just go!" Lee told him as he shoved Travis forward.

Like before, Lee, Mark, and Kenny ran towards the direction of the motor inn with Ben and this time, Travis too. Mark was carrying an unconscious David. Once they arrived at the motor inn, Lee noticed Lilly keeping watch like before and called out to her. "Get the gates open! We got wounded!"

Lilly said something incoherent that Lee couldn't catch, and once again, there was pandemonium everywhere.

"What's going on?" Katjaa asked.

"Who the hell are these people?" Larry demanded.

"Lee, are you okay?" Clementine asked almost worriedly.

"We've got wounded." Lee explained as Mark set David down in the back of the truck.

"Kat, can you fix him?" Kenny asked his wife, who looked unsure if she could save him.

"Jesus, Ken!" Katjaa cried. "I can try, okay? Just..."

"Lee!" Lilly yelled over everyone. "LEE! What the hell are you thinking?! You can't just keep bringing new people here! Our group is big enough as it is!

"Hey, you want to calm down for a fucking minute?" Kenny requested in an annoyed tone.

"Hey, watch your tone!" Larry warned to Kenny.

"He would have died if we left him!" Lee explained. "I'm the one who cut off his leg, which makes me responsible."

"So what if he died?" Larry asked, folding his arms and glaring at the other man.

"We have to think about OUR group and ours alone!" Lilly shouted, stepping closer to Lee and pointing in his face. "Right here, right now!" She stepped back, throwing her fist down.

"Hey, we don't know these guys yet. They could help us out." Doug spoke up as he and Carley joined the others after hearing all the commotion.

"In what way?" Larry glared at him.

"Come on, these are people who are trying to survive, the same as us!" Mark cried in defense.

Lilly turned to him. "The only reason you're there is because you have enough food for all of us. And God only knows how much we have left."

She turned towards Ben and Travis and asked if they were carrying any food on them.

"Uh, no." Ben shrugged.

"Well, I'm not listening to this," Carley said, walking away.

"You guys work it out," Mark added. He then turned to Ben and Travis, and patted Ben on the back. "Welcome to the family, kids."

That's when Clementine arrived and tugged on Ben's hand, leading him and Travis away towards where she and Duck were playing.

Kenny approached Lilly once everyone else had departed. "You think you're the leader of this little group, but we can make our own God-damn choices! And I weren't going to leave some kids to die."

"What the fuck did I just say? We can't bring in every struggling survivor we come across!" Lilly yelled back, getting closer to his face.

"Well forgive me for saving people's life!" Kenny sarcastically replied. "I'm sorry if we're all not selfish, stuck-up bastards like you and your old man."

"Excuse me?!" Lilly demanded. "You really have the audacity to call ME selfish? I'm trying to look out for this group, and I'm doing a damn better job of it than you are, Kenny!"

Lee knew that now was the time to interject once again before things got too out of hand.

"Look, it doesn't matter who's in charge around here!" Lee spoke up, interrupting the two before this situation got any better. "It doesn't matter what we did our there, but we've got plenty of supplies, and now we've got more people to help us survive. We have to make the best of it."

"You know what? Fine. I'm tired of dealing with this shit," Lilly announced, storming off.

Lee looked over at Katjaa, who was doing her best to fix up David. He knew that, if and possibly when he died, he would have to make sure he didn't turn and attack Katjaa. .

Now that he was back, Lee decided to go and check on everyone. By now, he assumed Clementine had lost her hat like last time by that woman Jolene. Even if he didn't go to the St. John farm, he would still have to get it back. He first decided to check up on Clementine who was coloring with Duck with Carley watching them and Kenny sitting nearby. Ben and Travis were sitting together.

"Hey Clementine." Lee greeted.

"Hey, Lee," Clementine replied with a smile. She felt the top of her head where her hat was missing. This reminded Lee that he had to cut her hair soon. "Um, I lost my hat. Can you help me find it?"

"Sure, Clem, I'll have a look around." Lee assured with her with a smile. "Why don't you get playing back to Duck for a while?"

"Okay," Clementine nodded, happy that Lee wanted to help. She returned to her original position and continued coloring.

Lee walked over to Katjaa, knowing that David's time was soon coming.

"How's he doing?" Lee asked while crossing his arms together.

"I don't know," Katjaa admitted, frowning slightly. "I have bandages, but he's still losing blood."

"Just keep an eye on him, okay?" Lee warned her. "He lost a lot of blood. Waking up fast might put him into shock."

"I'll see to that," Katjaa gave a slight nod, and then continued her work. She was a veterinarian, not a doctor, so she was doing what she could.

Lee, in the meantime, decided to go and check on Doug who was almost finished with that trap he made a while ago. The other man was busy messing around with the bells that served as an alarm. "Hey Doug."

"Oh, hey Lee," Doug replied, glancing over his shoulder. "I think I'm finally getting this damn thing to work."

"That's good. Should alert us if anyone's nearby." Lee praised with a slight nod. He had the feeling that the alarm would be tested soon when the St. John's arrived at the motor inn.

And when that happened, then what? He would try to do all he could to save Mark, but getting out of the cannibalistic dinner wouldn't be easy.

Still, he had to try. If it meant saving his friends, then it had to be done.

"Guess I'll watch you later, Doug." Lee bid his friend goodbye and decided to go and speak with Kenny for a while. The other man was sitting by the RV with an exhaust pipe in his hand.

"Hey, pal. Thought this might be of good use for the truck," Kenny said, holding the pipe up.

"Nice thinking." Lee nodded as he folded his arms together. He kept his voice low for this next part. "So word's getting out that you still want to leave the motor inn?"

"Think so," Kenny confirmed. "I'm getting real sick of Lilly and her bullshit. I was thinking we take the motor inn and get to Savannah. Surely there are at least a few boats left."

Lee knew that was untrue with the exception of the one they found in the backyard. Still, he did want to get out of the motor in when the time was right, especially when the bandits arrive. That's if he could find a way to stop Ben from ever being threatened by them in the first place. "When you go, think me, Clem, Carley and Doug could come along?"

"You helped my boy when that dickhead Larry thought he was bit, and have been there for my family when needed," Kenny told him. "I think you and your girl have earned a spot in the RV." He gave Lee a smile. "And Carley and Doug seem pretty useful."

"All right, thanks Ken." Lee thanked with a nod. He had nothing better to do for a few moments and continued conversation. "So what do you think we do about the kids? If I'm being honest, I don't think he's going to make it."

"Who? Oh, that guy Kat's working on?" Kenny asked. "I ain't sure, Lee. But we'll do what it takes to keep them both safe."

"All right." Lee nodded. "I'll go talk to them, see how they're doing. I'll catch you later, Kenny."

"Later," Kenny gave a nod.

There was only a small amount of time before the St. Johns showed up, and when David would die. He went over to the kids and decided to talk to Duck, who was coloring furiously on his paper, first.

"How you doing, Duck?" Lee asked the young boy.

"I'm okay! Me and Clementine are coloring," Duck chirped, his spirits way up there as usual.

"Guess what it is!" Clementine exclaimed, holding up what looked like a kitty cat to Duck, Ben, and Travis.

"Uhh...a tiger?" Travis played along.

"A goat...?" Ben guessed, but he seemed to be in deep thought, more than likely thinking about his teacher.

Clementine shook her head, ever so annoyed that they got it wrong.

Lee only chuckled in response and decided to speak to the boys. "Hey...Ben and Travis, right? How are you guys doing?"

"We're fine, I suppose," Travis said with a shrug. "Is Mr. Parker going to be okay?"

Lee knew for a fact that was not true and that David would die and then return as a walker. Still, that did not mean they should lose hope. "I'm sure Katjaa can fix him. Try not to worry about it, guys."

"We'll try." Ben replied, his head hung low.

Lee nodded and again asked Clementine how she was doing, if she was okay.

"I guess I'm okay," Clementine answered. "I hope we find my hat soon."

"Ken! Lee! Come here, please," Katjaa called. Lee seemed to know what would happen. He and Kenny walked over to Katjaa, who was standing near David.

"He didn't make it, did he?" Kenny asked.

"He lost too much blood," Katjaa said regretfully. "I tried, I really did, but there was no saving him."

Kenny merely sighed in response and stomped away.

"You did the best you could." Lee reassured her. He glanced over her shoulder and when he noticed David reanimating, he grabbed Katjaa and yanked her forward, pulling her out of harm's way. "Shit!"

David, now a walker, attempted to climb out of the truck, alert the others. Doug grabbed a plan of wood and attempted to whack David on the head, but due to his weak strength, it did no damage.

"The axe!" Lee shouted. He had not yet given it to Mark.

Mark found the axe inside the RV and ran over, whacking David in the head. But it wasn't enough to off him completely. Just as before, Carley ran over and shot David in the head, finally killing him.

"Are you okay?" Carley asked.

"Yeah, I'm good, thanks." Lee thanked as he pushed the now dead David off from him.

"What didn't you tell us he was bitten?" Kenny asked Ben and Travis, jabbing his finger into Ben's chest.

"What?" Travis asked, backing away slightly. He turned towards Ben. "What are you...wait." He turned to his friend. "Ben, I don't think they know."

"Don't know what?" Lee inquired, but he was just playing dumb like before.

Ben and Travis looked at one another one again, and Travis started. "You don't come back just by getting bit. No matter how you die, you'll turn if the brain isn't destroyed. There was an incident that proved it to us."

"A girl in our class just couldn't take it anymore and she killed herself by taking pills." Ben explained with his arms folded. "You come back no matter how you die."

"God help us." Lee gasped.

* * *

**And that's the end of chapter 6, ladies and gentlemen. Lee has saved yet another life: Travis. Now all they need to worry about are the St. John's. How will Lee convince the group not to go? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out.**


	7. Chapter 7: the St John's

**Redemptive Opportunities**

**Chapter 7: the St. John's**

**I'm too tired to say anything in this author's note. Enjoy reading, folks.**

* * *

At the moment, the alarm Doug had set up rung and Lilly whistled. Everyone ducked down and waited for the danger ahead. While they were waiting, Mark praised Doug on the alarm.

"Doug, it works." Mark whispered.

"Yes!" Doug did a fist pump, but remembered to stay quiet.

Carley snuck over to the front, her trusty weapon at hand. She aimed it at no doubt, the St. Johns. "BACK OFF!" she shouted, giving them a death glare.

"Whoa, lady, relax!" Andy said defensively. "We just want to know if you can help us-"

"I said back off!" Carley repeated herself.

"Carley..." Lilly trailed off cautiously.

Lee stepped forward and stared towards the two sick cannibals who stood before him, acting all friendly, but deep down inside, he knew exactly who they were and what they did. "What do you want?"

"We're just looking for some gas." Danny explained, holding up the gas container.

"If y'all could lower your guns, we'd be happy to talk about some kind of trade," Andy offered, smiling as if he had done nothing wrong. "We own a dairy farm a few miles up the road."

"How are y'all doing on food?" Danny inquired. "We got plenty at the dairy."

"Why do you need gas?" Carley asked after a pause.

"We have generators that produce electricity. It also keeps them things out," Andy explained. "Our generators run on gas. I'm Andrew St. John, and this here's my brother, Danny."

Now was stuck on what to do to get out of this situation. He quickly turned around and beckoned for Lilly to come closer. "Lilly, I don't trust me. I say we just forget about it."

"What do you think they could be hiding?" Lilly asked with a frown.

"I don't know, but don't you think they seem a BIT too friendly?" Lee warned as he looked back to the two brothers who stood there waiting for an answer. "What kind of people just gives away free food? Especially in these times."

Lilly then thought of all of the possibilities with the food, how it could be poisonous, etcetera. "You might be right, Lee."

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?" Larry interjected. "These people are willing to do us a favor, and you're just going to shove them like an ungrateful sack of shit? I can't fucking believe you, Lee."

"You know what? Fuck you, Larry." Lee told him, finally having enough of all this. "You want to go? Fine, but don't blame me when they turn out to be killers."

"You know what? I will," Larry replied, pushing him aside and going to the front. "You boys want a trade? Well, ya got one. We can bring gas to your dairy, and you give us extra food in return."

"Dad..." Lilly trailed off.

"Lilly, Larry..." Lee warned, but neither of them were listening to them. He sighed. "The rest of us will stay here and protect the motor inn." Lee replied with his arms crossed. He did not wish for Lilly and Larry there, but there was nothing he could say to stop them.

Lilly sighed. She seemed reluctant to go, but she didn't want to disappoint her dad. "Alright, let's go."

She and Larry went out through the gate with some of the gas cans, following the St. Johns out of sight.

"I don't like this." Mark spoke up as he climbed on top of the RV to keep watch for a while.

"Neither do I." Kenny agreed, but he did not seem to show much care about Lilly and Larry were leaving.

"You're right, Lee, there was something fishy about those guys," Carley, who had overheard the conversation, pointed out. "It would be hard to guess what, though."

"Well, nothing we can do about it now." Doug replied, taking a seat on the couch outside. "Look, we wait until around dinner time and if they're not back by then, we'll go check and out."

"I reckon that sounds good," Kenny said, going over to check on the kids.

Lee realized that he would soon have to go to the bandit camp to retrieve Clementine's hat.

Lee thought it would be best to go soon before it got dark, but he would need Carley to go with him. How he would explain it was a mystery, but he had to try. He approached the younger woman. "Hey Carley."

Carley nodded at him in return, putting down the book she had just picked up. "How are you, Lee?"

"I'm good." Lee nodded and checked if anyone else was around. "Listen, I need a favor. A couple of days ago, I saw some woman spying on us from the trees. I didn't want to tell anyone because I didn't want them to get spooked. And now Clementine's hat has went missing and I think whoever spied on us took it. Think you can help me find her? I know it's just a hat, but it means a lot to Clem. Her dad gave it to her."

Carley looked a bit surprised. "How did no one see her?" she inquired. She then chuckled. "So much for Lilly's hawk eyes. But I'll come with you."

"Thanks." Lee nodded as he picked up his fire axe while Carley got her Glock 17. He announced their going to the others. "Me and Carley are going to go scouting for a while, see if we can find anything useful. Keep watch until we're gone."

He turned towards Doug who was standing nearby. "Hey Doug, think you can keep an eye on Clem for me?"

"I'll watch her, Lee," Doug assured him, glancing beside him at the little girl, rubbing her head affectionately.

Clementine giggled slightly before turning to Lee, her expression now serious. "Please be lucky, Lee."

"Ever since I met you I've been lucky, Clem." Lee assured her with a nod. And that was true. Out of their entire group (minus Clementine), Lee was the last one to die. He turned back towards Carley and nodded. "Let's go."

Lee new exactly where the camp was, but hopefully, they could get it before Jolene confronted them.

He had hoped that Danny or Andy wouldn't show up here as well. Things would most likely go more than a little awry if that did happen. The bandits' tents were now coming into view.

"Do you think we should-" Carley began, but Lee hushed her.

Lee stepped forward and carefully entered the camp area, being careful not to get noticed in case someone was here. When it was clear and there was no sign of trouble, Lee quickly entered the tent and retrieved Clementine's hat, quickly running back to Carley. "I got it." he announced. "This must have been her camp."

"How did you know where to find this place?" Carley questioned. "You led me right to it."

"I didn't." Lee lied. He had the feeling this would raise a bit of suspicion. "Something in my gut just told me to go this way."

Carley frowned, but didn't question him any further. "Alright..." she trailed off."Um, is there anywhere else you want to look?"

"All I wanted to do was find Clem's hat. I say we head back before someone turns up." Lee suggested.

Carley nodded in response and the two quickly ran away from the area before Jolene or any of the bandits would show up. Once they were at a safe distance, the two began walking back to the motor inn, all while trying to avoid walkers or bandits.

"You know, things have been really quiet since you found those kids today," Carley pointed out, keeping her eyes peeled for anything out of place.

"What do you mean by that?" Lee questioned. He too was keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.

"Have you heard anything strange lately?" Carley wanted to know. "Seen anything?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary, except for the person who stole Clem's hat." Lee replied, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

"Lilly was telling her dad about a bad feeling she had," Carley said with a frown.

"Lilly's too paranoid about everything." Lee replied just as they were finally out of the forest and the motor inn was in view. He decided to joke about something that happened the first time. "It wouldn't surprise me if she was beginning to think someone in our group was stealing our supplies."

"No kidding," Carley playfully scoffed. "The way she is over her dad, she can be unpredictable."

"Tell me about it." Lee agreed with a chuckle.

The two waved to Mark to signal it was them and Kenny helped open the gate for them. Lee thanked Carley for her help and made his way over towards Clementine who was now speaking to Travis.

"Hey Clementine, I got something for you." Lee said with a smile as he handed Clementine her hat.

Clementine smiled brightly when she saw it. "My hat! You found it!" she exclaimed. She took it and placed it back on her head. "You said you would find it, and you did! Thank you, Lee!" She walked over and gave him a hug.

"No problem, Clementine, I'm glad I could help." Lee replied as he patted her back a few times.

Clementine beamed up at him before making her way back to Travis. Lee noticed that the sun was starting to go down, and Lilly and Larry weren't back from the dairy farm yet.

Lee called for a group meeting at the center of the motor inn. "Listen up everyone: Lilly and Larry have been gone too long. We need to head to the farm. I don't trust these people."

"You got a plan?" Doug inquired.

"Yeah." Lee nodded. "All we got are two rifles and a pistol. Kenny, Mark, I need you two to tail behind and cover us from an advantage point. Carley and I will go ahead. As for the rest of you, stay here and guard the motor inn. Everyone got it?"

"Uh-huh," Doug replied.

"Yup," said Mark.

"Got it," Carley nodded, holding out her Glock 17.

Lee, Kenny, Carley, and Mark got themselves ready to go, and Katjaa promised Lee that she would keep an eye on Clementine. Lee assured her that he trusted her, and ushered the others out of the motel.

* * *

It took a little while until they reached near the St. John farm. Lee told Kenny and Mark to go and take a sniping position nearby while he and Carley would go in from the front.

"If I scratch the back of my head, that's the signal I'm in trouble." Lee explained to Kenny.

"Gotcha," Kenny answered.

Everyone took their positions, Lee beckoning Carley to follow him. Rain began to pour down on them, but they didn't care. None of the St. Johns was in sight yet, but Lee had a terrible feeling that something had already happened.

The two approached the main gate where Andy was filling up the generator with gas.

"Andy!" Lee called out, marching towards the other man.

Andy looked over at him, but he didn't look friendly as he had before. He stood up and placed one hand on his hip, the other one reaching for something in his back pocket. "I suppose you're here for your group then."

"NOOOO!" they heard Lilly scream.

"Lilly!" Lee gasped.

At that moment, Carley whipped out her pistol and aimed it at Andy.

"Where are they?!" Lee demanded.

"Tell us, now!" Carley ordered. "What did you do?!"

"The right thing, to survive," Andy replied. Then, he whistled. Lee heard a pump of a shotgun, and came face-to-face with Danny.

"We got use for all of your people." Danny grinned with his gun focused on Lee. "You ain't going anywhere."

Lee raised his hands and scratched the back of his head. "You won't get away with this."

Carley whipped around and pointed her firearm at Danny, who only chuckled.

"Ain't you a pretty little thing?" he teased. "I would drop that, right now."

Lee scanned around for Kenny and Mark, who were slowly starting to approach after seeing his signal.

"I wouldn't push her if I were you." Lee warned with a serious expression. "She's a real good shot."

"Dan, behind you," Andy warned his brother.

But Danny turned around too late, and Kenny was able to snatch his rifle away from him. Mark tossed Lee the other rifle, so now all four of them had their weapons pointed at the brothers. Andy's weapon, a steak knife, would be useless against them.

"Where are you keeping them?" Mark demanded to know.

"Tell us now or I'll shoot!" Lee threatened, aiming towards Andy straight for his head.

"You ain't going to shoot." Danny chuckled, unnerved by their threats.

"You're right, I won't." Lee agreed, turning towards Carley before nodding. "Carley."

Carley nodded curtly and shot Danny in the leg, almost directly in the knee. The younger St. John brother yelled out in pain

"You still think I'm fucking around?!" Lee shouted, his rifle now aimed at Danny's head. "Tell me where they are!"

At that moment, Brenda walked outside after hearing the gunshot.

"What in good Heavens is going on out here?" she shouted, running over.

"What the FUCK kind of people are you?" Kenny shouted, pointing his gun at Brenda's head. She put her hands in the air.

"This is your last chance!" Mark warned. "Where are our people?!"

Danny let out another scream, withering around in pain. His leg was bleeding profusely, yet no one seemed care. Not even Andy or Brenda.

"Barn..." he managed to get out.

Lee and Carley ran towards the barn as fast as they could while Kenny and Mark watched the rest of them.

Lee ran towards the back of the barn and was forced to go inside the slaughter house again. Carley watched in horror and felt as if she was going to vomit.

"Oh my God..." she moaned, placing a hand to her mouth.

Lilly was on her knees beside Larry, who was lying on the ground, dead. The left half of his head was dented in, and Lee put two and two together when he saw a bloody salt lick nearby. Lilly had had to kill her undead father.

"Lilly." Lee whispered and knelt down. He now realized that Kenny was right and that Larry couldn't be saved.

"Just..." Lilly trailed off. "I want to say good-bye."

"What happened?" Carley asked quietly.

"We understand." Lee nodded and escorted Carley outside to barn, explaining the incident while doing so. "Larry must have turned into a walker and Lilly was forced to kill him."

"Jesus," Carley shook her head.

The two returned to where Kenny and Mark were, but there was one difference: One of them had shot Brenda in the head.

"What the fuck happened, Kenny?" Lee inquired.

"Crazy bitch tried to pull out a gun on me." Kenny explained while Carley picked up Brenda's revolver. "Had to do it."

"Where's Lilly and Larry?" Mark asked.

"They're in the barn. Larry's dead," Carley explained. "We don't know what happened. He just...died."

"Shit..." Mark gasped, shaking his head in disgust. He turned towards Kenny for advice. "What do we do here, guys?"

"I say we leave 'em for the walkers," Kenny replied, folding his arms. They all noticed that the electric fence was beginning to lose power due to the rain.

"What about Lilly?" Carley asked, turning towards the barn.

"Let's just wait for her." Lee suggested while he averted his eyes towards Andy. He dropped his rifle and marched towards the other man before punching him straight across his chin. "You sick bastards!"

"Fuck you! All we wanted was some goddamn gasoline!" Andy shouted. He tackled Lee and pounced on top of him, and began to punch him. Kenny immediately began to try and pull him off, but ended up getting elbowed in the process.

Lilly, with her dad's blood on her face, appeared out of the shed then with a rifle she had somehow acquired, and for a moment, seemed to debate on what to do since she didn't want to risk hitting Lee with her gun. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and aimed the rifle at Andy, shooting his ear off.

Lee pushed Andy down and pinned himself down on top of Andy like last time and began to repeatedly punch him. "You got your fucking gasoline! You started this! You chose to be sick fuckers!"

Mark, Kenny, and Carley stood in front of the house, watching the scene before them. Lilly trudged from where she was and promptly kicked Danny in the head, knocking him out. Whether that blow had actually killed him, no one knew and desired not to care.

Eventually, Carley walked up to Lee, same as before. "Lee, it's over. He's had enough."

Lee delivered one more punch to Andy before getting up and joining the rest of the group. Andy, who was now covered in blood, bruises, and was messing some teeth demanded Lee to come back.

"Get back here and fight me like a man, Lee!" Andy screamed, falling to his knees. The walkers were beginning to topple over the fence now.

Lee turned around to face him, remembering his choices from before. The last time, he had spared Andy's life for Clementine's sake, but since she wasn't here this time around, what should he do?

Things had changed since the first time and for all he knew, Andy and Danny could return. After some thinking, Lee marched back towards Andy and kicked him into the electric fence, causing the twisted me to fry to death.

Lee returned to the rest of the group and led them away from the far. "Let's go."

The three began to follow him, Lilly turning around to stare unhappily at the people who had, in a small way, killed her father. She sighed and followed her group away from the dairy farm.

Lee knew that someone was bound to discover the stranger's car here in just a few minutes, so he tried to do all he could to prevent that.

"Let's cut through here." Lee told the group, changing course to another path that would still take them to the motor inn, but avoid taking them to the car. "I think the bandits usually patrol that way at night. Better avoid them."

"Good thinking," Kenny praised, walking beside his friend. "I knew them folks were trouble from the beginning. I could tell by the way they spoke to us."

"Yeah, no shit," Lilly muttered, more to herself than to anyone.

"Lilly, Lee tried to warn you and Larry not to go in the first place." Carley reminded her as she walked little ways behind them.

"Well, I wasn't the one who wanted to go in the first place, wasn't I?" Lilly snapped at her. She crossed her arms and hung her head low.

"Let's just get back home." Lee suggested, marching forward to lead the rest of the way.

* * *

**That's the end of this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. Larry has still died the same way, but truthfully, who cares about him? I sure as hell don't. Stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8: home, sweet home

**Redemptive Opportunities**

**Chapter 8: home, sweet home**

**Yo yo, what's up, everyone? We're back with chapter 8. Before we get on to the chapter, I just thought I'd give you guys a video to check out. When on YouTube, type into the search engine "Clementine orders pizza". I think you will find it to your entertainment. In the meantime, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

When they arrived back at the motor inn, everyone was glad to see them, but as predicted, they wondered where Larry was. Lee told them everything after Lilly went into her room and slammed the door.

At least this time it was not Kenny's fault for killing him. Now that the remainder of their group was back, Lee went to check on everyone before heading to bed himself. He first approached Ben and Travis, who were sitting together by the RV. "Hey guys, the people at the farm were the same ones who set that bear trap on your teacher. I'm sorry, but I made sure they won't be doing it again."

"Really? Damn..." Ben looked down at the ground and so did Travis.

"Well, we're glad you took care of them," Travis replied. "And, sorry for not trusting you guys earlier. You tried to save our teacher, at least."

"It's okay. It's hard who to trust these days." Lee assured the boys with a nod. Now he had to make certain that Ben or Travis would not get ambushed by the bandits again. "Listen if anything happens that looks suspicious, even the slightest weird thing, come speak to me all right?"

"Will do, Lee," Ben answered with a nod. "I just hope no one else finds us, you know?"

"You're safe here, trust me." Lee assured them, but he knew that was not true. The bandits attacked them at least a couple of times during Lee's first time here. "I'll catch you kids later, all right?"

"See ya, Lee," Ben bade him good-bye.

Next, Lee went to check on Clementine, who was coloring again. She looked up and smiled when he approached.

"Hi, Lee. Are you okay?" she inquired.

"I'm okay, sweet pea." Lee replied as he knelt down to her height level. Since it was raining earlier, Clementine was coloring inside their room instead. "Everything been okay while I've been gone?"

"Yeah. Ben and Travis played soccer with Duck and I before it started raining," Clementine said with a little smile. "It was fun."

"That's nice." Lee nodded as he checked his watch to see it was 19:10 PM. Clementine didn't usually go to bed until it was around 21:00 PM. "Listen, Clementine...Larry's not with us anymore...Those people killed him."

Clementine looked surprised, then a little saddened. "Oh. They were bad guys?" she asked innocently.

"Yes." Lee confirmed with a nod. He placed his hand upon her shoulder. "But I promise, they won't be bothering us anymore. We made sure of that."

"Good," Clementine said. "I hope it means we're safe now."

"I'll protect you, Clementine, don't worry." Lee reassured her with his usually gently eyes. "Well, I need to check on some others. Why don't you continue drawing while I'm gone?"

"Okay. I'll make something for you!" Clementine replied.

Lee nodded and stepped outside of their room. Out of the many people he wanted to speak to, he decided to go and speak with Kenny first. "Hey Ken, thanks for the help back at the farm."

"No problem, Lee, we got them fuckers good," Kenny answered. He looked towards Lilly's room. "There might be fallout."

"What do you mean?" Lee inquired as he crossed his arms together. "Fallout?"

"Now that Larry's dead, Lilly's going to be worse than ever," Kenny explained. "We may need to steer clear from her for the time being."

"I think you're right." Lee agreed with a nod. "Let's just leave her to it. We'll handle the rations and watch for a while."

"Sounds like a plan," Kenny nodded. He looked over at the fewer gas cans they now had. "Can't believe we gave those sick bastards gasoline."

"Let's just be glad that it's over now." Lee replied as he looked down to the ground and sighed. Regardless of what he knew, he could not save Larry despite the fact he was an asshole.

"Yeah." Kenny looked away and put his hands on his hips. "I'm going to go check on my boy. I'll talk to you later, Lee."

"See you later, Ken." Lee replied before going to check on Mark who was sitting inside the RV for a while. He stepped inside and joined the other man. "Hey Mark."

"Hey, hell of a day, huh?" Mark asked with a chuckle.

"Tell me about it." Lee agreed as he took a seat on the RV seat.

"Wonder what'll happen now, with Lilly the way she is," Mark said. "Things will probably be quieter around here since we killed those guys."

"I don't know, Mark." Lee admitted, holding his head down with his hands placed upon his hair. "If I'm being honest, I do want to leave here."

"Yeah. This place definitely feels less safe, especially after today," Mark sighed. "I heard Kenny talking to his wife. He wants to leave as soon as possible and find a boat. But honestly? I think anyone with a boat would have taken it offshore by now."

"Well, Kenny mentioned he had his own boat...In Florida..." Lee replied with a doubtful expression.

"Florida? Place has got to be overrun with walkers by now," Mark explained, shaking his head. "And besides, don't you think it could have been stolen by now?"

"I'm not sure." Lee admitted. "Even if we did want to go to Florida, it's a long way to go. Maybe I should talk to Kenny about it. We have to leave, Mark, those bandits will come for us soon."

Mark looked confused for half a second, but nodded in agreement. "You're right, Lee. It won't be much longer until this place falls."

"Well, I'll catch you later, Mark, I'm going to check on the overs." Lee bid him farewell and proceeded outside of the RV. He located Doug who was sitting on the outside couch. Lee joined him and sat down. "Hey Doug."

"Hey Lee," Doug greeted. "Glad you guys made it back. Even though Larry's gone now."

"Nothing we could have done to save him, man." Lee replied in a sorrow tone. "With that St. Johns dead, I got the feeling those bandits are going to start messing with us."

"If that happens, hopefully my alarm will prepare us for when they're near," Doug stated, smiling a bit.

"Good thinking." Lee praised with a nod. He was going to ask him about the whole leaving situation, but decided to put it off for now. "So, things been good here? Clementine said things were fine."

"Things were fine. I kept score of the kids' soccer game," Doug replied. "But other than that, it was quiet."

"That's good. I like it when it's quiet." Lee agreed with a nod.

"Heh, don't we all?" Doug questioned, his smile returning. "I can't help but feel sorry for Lilly, though."

"I'm going to see if I can talk to her." Lee replied as he got up and approached Lilly's room. He knocked on the door quietly and whispered through her tone. "Lilly? It's Lee."

"What do you want?" Lilly asked. Lee could tell by her voice that she was, or had been, crying.

"I just wanted to check on you." Lee answered honesty, but Lilly did not open the door. "Besides, I'm time to hand out the rations soon."

"You can do it if you want, I don't care," Lilly said almost bitterly. "Just...I don't need anything. Look, can I be alone right now? Please?"

Lee was about to open his mouth to reply, but last time he did that, she screamed so loud that it scared the whole group and could have attracted walkers. He thought it was best to leave her alone. "Okay, Lilly, I'm going."

He walked away and decided to keep watch until it was time to put Clementine to bed. He would have to keep a good eye on Ben and Travis as well.

While Lee was keeping watch, Kenny decided to work on the RV for a couple of hours since he had nothing better to do for a while. Duck was with his mother at the moment and both of them were in their room at the moment. Lee leaned over and greeted the other man. "Hey Kenny. Working on the RV?"

"Yeah, I'm hoping she'll get to working within a few days," Kenny told him, wiping a beat of sweat from his forehead. "I still want to get to the coast."

And that's when Lee decided to ask. "Kenny, when we first met, didn't you mention you had your own boat?"

"Sure did," Kenny replied, not looking up from the RV. "If we're lucky, we can get there in a matter of days. Or get to Savannah."

"Well, you have to ask yourself, Kenny. What do you want to do?" Lee asked with an eyebrow raised. "Go to Florida where your boats locked up or go to Savannah and hope they're boats there?"

"Well, let's try this," Kenny suggested. "We head to Savannah, and we'll take a boat if it's there. And if not, we'll head on down to where my boat is." He didn't seem to think about the consequences.

"Uh, Kenny, with respect, I don't think we have enough gas to make it to both places if it turns out one of them doesn't have what we need." Lee warned him.

"Savannah ought to have something," Kenny growled more to himself than to Lee. Lee knew that he was both right and wrong.

"All right, we'll head to Savannah, but we'll get gas from stations and cars just in case, okay?" Lee suggested. "It's better to be safe than sorry."

"Good plan," Kenny praised. "But I'm afraid until then, we're stuck here."

"Shouldn't be too long I hope." Lee replied as leaned back in his lawn chair.

"Nope," Kenny agreed.

Time seemed to pass rather quickly, and soon enough, 9:00 PM rolled around. Mark took watch so that Kenny and Lee could put the kids to bed.

Since everyone had their rations for tonight, everyone could sleep on full stomachs. Before attending to Clementine, Lee took Ben and Travis to one of the motel rooms and opened the door. "Here's your room, guys. This the only one we have left, but it has two beds. Hope you kids sleep well."

"Thank you, Lee," Travis smiled a bit at the older man.

"Yeah, thanks," Ben added. "You too."

Lee nodded and left, allowing the two kids to turn in for the night. He opened the door to his and Clementine's room, where the little girl was starting to put her crayons away until tomorrow.

"Ready for bed, Clementine?" Lee offered as he hung on his jacket on the door and took his shoes off.

Clementine nodded sleepily and did the same, getting into her bed to allow Lee to tuck her in.

"Lee?" she asked as he put the blankets over her. "Lilly's going to be sad for a long time, isn't she?"

"I'm afraid so, Clementine." Lee admitted with a somewhat sad frown, but he quickly reassured the young girl. "Just give her some time, Clem."

"Okay." Clementine gave a nod. She wished that there was something she could do, but it was impossible. "Goodnight, Lee," she said, turning over and closing her eyes.

"Goodnight, Clem." Lee bid her a goodnight's sleep and got under the covers of his own bed.

* * *

**And that's the end of this, ladies and gentlemen. The group are back at the motor inn. Next chapter will be here as soon as possible.**


	9. Chapter 9: on the road again

**Redemptive Opportunities**

**Chapter 9: on the road again**

**Next chapter already!? Damn! I had a day off today since it's the first Monday of May and thought I'd bring you guys and gals more of the story. Well, happy reading, everyone.**

* * *

The next few days didn't go that differently from before. Lilly actually came out of her room the very next morning after Larry's death only to check on supplies and handle rations, which was a little surprising. But the group knew to leave her alone and give her time to grieve.

Unfortunately, Lee remembered that today was the day the bandits had attacked their motor inn the first time. Since they were good on supplies, Lee and Kenny did not leave and go to Macon again to retrieve some supplies now that they already got them the first time. That meant that the girl would suffer a painful death rather than Lee putting her out of her misery. He felt guilty for that, but there was nothing he could have done.

During the morning, Ben and Travis walked over to Lee, who was playing a board game with Duck and Clementine.

"Lee, can we talk to you for a moment?" Ben asked.

"Sure Ben." Lee replied as he stood up. "I'll be back in a moment, Clem."

Lee followed Ben and Travis over towards the other side of the motor inn and entered Ben and Travis' room where they wouldn't be disturbed. Lee hoped it would not be bad news, but he had the feeling his wish would not come true.

"What's up, guys?" Lee asked.

Ben and Travis looked at one another, and Travis decided to speak. "Well, the other night we heard you talking about some bandits spying on us, and we think you're right," he said.

Lee raised his eyebrows and nodded as if to say, "Go on."

"Some guy in a mask, he came up to us and told us he wanted supplies for his group," Ben continued. "I think he was one of the guys who raided our camp. He said he had our friend, and he said if we didn't give him supplies, he would kill him. What do we do, Lee?"

"We came to you since you wanted us to report any suspicions to you," Travis added.

Lee sighed and had to sit down to think this over for a moment. At least they were honest with him about this situation, but he had to come up with a solution fast. "Well, guys, I hate to break it to you, but they're lying, they don't have your friend. They don't even know who you are so they wouldn't make any sense to have someone who you know. Look, we have to tell the others about this."

"But what if they try to kill us?" Ben asked almost frantically. "We'll be so fucked!"

"Ben, shut up," Travis hissed. "Maybe...maybe we can get out of here while we still can!"

"That's a good idea." Lee agreed as he quickly ran back outside. Last time Duck had been bitten and Lee did not intend for that to happen again. "Kenny! Get the RV started, we're leaving now!"

He ran to Lilly's room and knocked on her door. "LILLY! We're leaving!"

Lilly opened the door, the signs from lack of sleep shown clearly on her face. "What do you mean, 'we're leaving?' What the hell is going on?" she explained.

"The bandits tried to threaten Ben and Travis into giving them our supplies." Lee explained while he gently pushed Clementine inside the RV. "They're bound to attack us soon. We should get going now!"

"Lee's right." Mark agreed, grabbing the fire axe. "We should escape while we got the chance."

"Fuck, are you serious?" Lilly hissed. "We-"

"Do you really think that Lee would lie about this?" Kenny barked after escorting his son into the RV. "We're leaving, right now. And truthfully? I don't give a damn about leaving you behind."

"Jackass," Lilly replied angrily. She went back into her room, grabbing her rifle and whatever supplies were inside.

"This is fucked up." Carley admitted as she reloaded a clip into her Glock 17.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Doug agreed while he carrying some of their supplies in boxes.

"If the bandits are still watching us, we better hustle," Kenny ordered, beckoning everyone in with his hand. He didn't seem too happy about Lilly getting in, but what could he do to stop her?

"Lee, why are we leaving?" Clementine inquired. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to Savannah, Clementine." Lee answered as he looked back to make sure everyone and everything was on board.

Kenny turned the keys but the engine only rattled.

"Damn piece of shit," Kenny growled, slamming his fist on the dashboard.

"Kenny, please calm down," Katjaa chided. "Maybe there's something else we can do?"

"Just keep trying." Lee suggested.

Kenny did that and turned the ignition a few more times until the engine finally roared to life.

"Yes!" Kenny shouted, grinning.

"Let's blow this Popsicle stand!" Duck cried excitedly. He seemed pretty enthusiastic to leave the motor inn, but then again, when wasn't he enthusiastic?

Kenny drove the RV straight out of the motor inn and onto the open road.

Now on the open road, Lee knew that he had just saved three lives: Carley, Katjaa and Duck, and better yet, there was no traitor in their group because it had not happened yet. Despite this, Lee felt a bit cramped in the RV. He and Clementine were sitting down on the RV couch with Mark beside them, Lilly was standing up, Carley, Doug, Ben and Travis were seated at the back by the table, and Kenny was driving with Katjaa in the passenger side with Duck on her lap.

If they were going to Savannah, Lee wondered how to avoid Clementine's questions about her parents, but he knew that they were inevitable. How he was going to prevent her from seeing them would be harder, albeit there were still no batteries in her walkie-talkie.

"Now let's get to Savannah, folks." Kenny spoke up as he pressed his foot a little harder against the gas.

This caused Lilly to stumble, but she managed to grab hold of the table before she could fall down.

Lee knew that there were some hours until they reached the train. Maybe, when they got there, he could prevent Chuck's fate as well.

Last time Lee was in here, he had a dream where Clementine turned into a walker and lunged at him. That dream scared the hell out of him and he swore he would never let that happen to Clementine.

He would be damned before it would, under his watch. Since it was about dark outside, Clementine's eyes were beginning to droop. No doubt that she would be asleep very soon.

"Feels weird to lose our home, huh?" Mark spoke up shortly after Clementine was asleep.

"I guess it does..." Lee had to admit there. "We were there for so long, you know?"

"You, around three months." Mark replied with a slight nod. "Stupid bandits cost us everything."

"Damn them," Lee answered gruffly, shaking his head.

"But at least we're all still here, right?" Mark looked on the bright side of this situation.

"Yeah, best to stay positive," Lee said with a small smile.

"I'm going to try and get some sleep for the night." Mark said as he tried to get into a comfortable position on the couch.

"Alright then," Lee replied. He felt like he should get to sleep soon, hoping that he wouldn't have that awful dream again.

It did not take long for Lee to get some sleep and when he did, he had not had the dream about Clementine becoming a walker, but instead, he dreamed of a more pleasure dream. He dreamed of something that he and Clementine discussed while they were in Crawford. They were in a place where life was normal again, a place with a gigantic metal wall around them to protect them. It was a place life was normal again.

And better yet, Lee had set up that classroom he suggested to Clementine long ago. If only this all could come true.

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**And that's chapter 9, folks. The group have escaped the motor inn without the deaths of anyone in their group, and more importantly, no traitor. Stay tuned for the next chapter where the group will encounter the train again.**


	10. Chapter 10: Chuck and the train

**Redemptive Opportunities**

**Chapter 10: Chuck and the train**

**Hey everyone, Assassin and Writer here with chapter 10. I was going to update yesterday, but I went to go and watch the new Avengers Age of Ultron movie. It was a great movie. **

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He awoke the next morning to Clementine shaking him. "Lee? There's something blocking the road. I think it's a train."

Lee got up and proceeded outside to join the others. There was the train blocking their way to Savannah yet again. No doubt Chuck was watching them from somewhere, tempted to scare them away. Lee decided to go and talk to Katjaa who was sitting in the same position as before with Duck, Ben and Travis. Everyone else was investigating the train, except for Lilly who was standing on her own by a tree.

"Are you and Duck holding up okay, Kat?" he inquired.

"I think we're alright, Lee," Katjaa answered with a light smile.

"Yup, we're good!" Duck agreed.

"Kenny, Mark and Carley are checking out that train." Ben spoke up while he was sitting with his knees up by his chest. "Lilly went over there on her own for some reason."

"I think it's best we leave her alone for now," Lee replied, knowing that the woman was still in deep mourning over the loss of her father.

"Yeah, that might be best," said Travis.

Lee decided to go and check with the others on the train. Carley was looking inside one of the train cabinets where the three tools were inside, Mark was standing on the top of the train and Kenny was inside the train.

"Anything useful in there we can find?" Lee asked Carley, playing dumb.

"Just a couple of tools." Carley replied as she leaned back with the wretch in one hand. "Still, they look strong enough to hurt a walker."

Same as before, Lee took out the spanner and placed it in his back pocket. Before exiting the RV, he remembered to take the pencil so that he could read the indentations of the torn page.

Kenny was seated in the driver seat, trying to figure out how this train worked. He turned around when he heard the door open. "Hey Lee, I thought if we can get this train running, we can get to Savannah."

"I think you're right," Lee agreed. He walked over and picked up the notepad. "The page is torn, but I can kind of make out these indentations." He scribbled onto the paper and, once again, the instructions were perfectly clear.

"Damn, nice job, Lee." Kenny praised with a nod. "How'd you know how to do that?"

"Clementine showed me how to do it on a leaf-rubbing," Lee half-lied. It was true that this had happened, but not this time.

"Well, we'll have to thank her for it later." Kenny replied while he turned back towards the controls. "Well, you better get to it before lurkers show up."

"Good idea," Lee nodded. He walked over and followed the instructions a second, time, causing the train to work a little more.

The engines of the train roared to life and Kenny cheered enthusiastically. However, before they could go, the train was still stuck on the back part of the other boxcars. Lee went back to unlock it and no doubt he would be meeting Chuck soon once he got there.

However, the old man wasn't there when he arrived. He was most likely talking to the others, and when Lee looked out, there was Chuck giving Clementine candy. Lee took the map (since Chuck didn't really mind before) and went to loosen the panel.

After using the wretch to break apart the boxcar, Lee climbed back inside the boxcar and there was chuck, waiting for him like before. This time, however, Lee was not surprised.

"You touch any of my stuff?" Chuck inquired.

Lee decided to be truthful this time around. "Just this map, we were going to borrow it."

"That's okay, you can have that." Chuck assured in a normal tone. He patted his finger against his head. "I got them all memorized up here."

"Name's Lee," Lee introduced himself again.

"I'm Chuck. Charles, if you fancy." Chuck introduced himself. He nodded his head towards the others. "That your crew out there?"

"Yup. The one up in the can is, too. That's Kenny."

J"I saw y'all coming through and thought about scaring the pants off ya." Chuck admitted with a grin. "But I couldn't bring myself to do it."

"Thanks, I guess?" Lee smiled.

"Well, I better let you get back to whatever it is you're doing. I already talked to the rest of your group and they warmed up to me right quick in direct sunlight." Chuck responded while he jumped out of the boxcar to join the others. He finished off his sentence before leaving Lee's sight. "Well, all except for the girl in the black jacket anyway."

"Yeah...that's just how she is," Lee gave a nod. He led Chuck out of the train, and Clementine ran over to him.

"You met Chuck." Clementine stated with a small smile. "He gave us all candy, Ben and Travis too!"

Lee looked over at the two boys, who were both eating their candy simultaneously. Ben looked up somewhat sheepishly, while Travis gobbled away at his candy.

"Welcome," Lee decided to acknowledge Chuck.

"Thank you." Chuck thanked with a nod. He took a seat on a log and held his guitar beside him.

He began playing, and since Duck wasn't bitten this time, he was able to enjoy it. He seemed somewhat mesmerized by the guitar.

"Well, everyone, I think we've got this train running fine," Lee announced. "So, just gather whatever you have and let's be on our way."

Everyone obliged, even Lilly, who seemed to be reluctant about it.

After grabbing their supplies and weapons, the group boarded the train as usual and they were off to Savannah soon. Like before, Kenny offered Chuck a ride and the older man agreed since they were basically taking their home.

The ride wouldn't be so dreadful since Duck wasn't bitten, so he and Clementine for out their crayons and began drawing. It would be a long while before they reached Savannah (and most likely meeting Omid and Christa in the process), so they would need to entertain themselves somehow.

Kenny and Katjaa were together in the train cab, Carley and Doug were talking to one another nearby, Ben and Travis were just outside the boxcar, Mark was sleeping and Lilly was at the front of the train.

Lee knew that the time was coming for Clementine to learn how to survive, and he hoped to get to that before Chuck told her she was going to die (if that would happen). Maybe Duck could learn, too.

The old man was currently sitting by the edge of the boxcar door, casually watching the trees go past.

Lee didn't know whether to talk to him, due to most of their conversation happening the first time.

But while they were here, Lee thought it was best to teach Clementine how to survive now and while he was at it, see if he could convince Kenny to allow Duck to train as well.

"Clem, you mind if we talk for a minute?" Lee asked of the little girl, who was still coloring fiercely.

"Sure, Lee." Clementine agreed as she placed her crayons down and followed her guardian towards another part of the boxcar.

"Listen, sweet pea. We need to come up with a plan for when we get to Savannah," Lee explained. "I think we should also teach you how to protect yourself, and make sure you can't get grabbed so easily."

"What do you mean by protecting myself?" Clementine questioned, although she had the feeling she would not like the answer.

"One second." At that, Lee walked over to Carley and Doug. "Guys, I hate to interrupt, but Carley, do you mind if I use your weapon for a little bit?"

"Uh, sure." Carley replied as she took her pistol out from her pocket and offered it to Lee. "Might I ask what for?"

Lee lowered his voice slightly. "I think it's time that Clementine learns how to protect herself, invade something happened to me. Maybe I can convince Katjaa and Kenny to let Duck learn, too."

Carley and Doug turned towards one another for a moment before responding.

"I think it's a good idea, Lee." Carley agreed as she handed him her Glock 17 to use. "In this day and age, everyone needs to know how to protect themselves."

"I think it's good too, but are you sure, Lee?" Doug inquired. "You know firing a gun for the first time can feel scary."

"I'll make this feel as easy for her as I can," Lee assured them. "She'll get used to it in no time."

"All right, good luck, Lee." Carley wished him the best with a nod.

Lee returned the nod and returned the nod before returning to Clementine was waiting patiently for him to return.

He slowly held out the gun for the little girl to see, causing her eyes to widen.

"Learning to survive involves things we don't always want to use," Lee explained, "but it's crucial. Now remember, it's just a thing. It's not meant to scare you."

"Okay." Clementine skeptically replied as she accepted the gun into her hands. "It's heavier than it looks."

Lee smiled down at her. "Let's get started now," he said.

Luckily, Mark was awake at this point. Lee walked over and placed one of Chuck's empty wine bottles onto a box. He then walked back over to Clementine.

"Alright, aim carefully at the bottle and I'll cover your ears," he told her. "Don't lock your elbows." Here, he positioned her arms correctly.

Clementine closed one eye to get a better aim and fired the gun, hitting the bottle on the first try, but it startled her at the same time, just like before. "Eeek!"

"It's all right," Lee assured her. "Try again now." He unlocked her elbows again.

Clementine did as he instructed and aimed down the sights of the weapon. Carley, Doug, and Chuck were watching together while Duck had gone to his parents in the train cab. She fired the gun a second time, and hit the bottle without much effort than last time.

"I got it!" she cheered.

"Yeah, good job!" Lee praised. "Let's practice some more."

Clementine nodded and Mar set up some more bottles nearby. She fired a couple of more rounds from her weapon, hitting each bottle without missing.

"Great job, Clem!" Lee praised with a smile. "You'll be a pro at this in no time, sweet pea."

"Thanks Lee." Clementine smiled as she handed him the Glock 17 back. "Do I also need to know how to use a rifle?"

Lee frowned. He felt that Clementine was a bit too small for that at the moment. "I think we should wait a little while for that, Clementine. The force of it might be a little much for you."

"Oh, okay." Clementine nodded as she held a hand to her arm. "Are we done or is there more?"

Lee walked over to Chuck's mattress and grabbed the scissors. "Can I use these for a few minutes?" he asked the old man.

"Sure, not like I need to use them." Chuck replied while he patted his guitar. "Everything I need is right here."

Lee smiled. "Thanks."

He approached Clementine, who looked slightly apprehensive when she took notice of the scissors. "So...you're not going to like this part."

"Are you going to cut my hair?" Clementine asked with a slightly nervous expression.

"I'm afraid so, Clementine," Lee nodded. "Now, I won't cut it too short, but it needs to be short enough so that a walker can't grab it."

"I'm going to look like a boy." Clementine frowned as she took off her hat and set it aside for a moment.

"Shush, now!" Lee scolded. He began to trim the girl's hair in the same areas as before.

"How come Carley doesn't have her hair short?" Clementine questioned while she crossed her arms together.

Lee turned to Carley, as he had no answer.

"I wouldn't let them even get close to me, Clem." Carley replied as he held up her Glock 17.

"You think you should get a haircut too, though?" Lee inquired. "And Katjaa and Lilly. It's a good idea."

"I don't think so, Everett." Carley replied with a slight grin.

Lee shrugged and continued cutting Clementine's hair. The little girl didn't think it was fair that she had to be the only one for this. A short time later, he was done.

Clementine patted her new haircut and frowned yet again. She took out the two hair ties Lilly had gave her a while back. "I got these from Lilly if they help."

"Sounds good," Lee replied. He took them and began tying them into Clem's hair, like little pigtails. "You look cute, Clem." He gave her a smile.

"I guess." Clementine replied as she took her hat and placed it back over her head. At least no-one could see her hair with her hat on.

He decided to go to the front to retrieve the map. "I'll be back in a minute," he told Clementine.

He passed Ben and Travis along the way and greeted them before arrived at the train cab where Kenny and his family were inside.

He wasn't sure if he should ask immediately about Duck's learning to survive. Speaking of Duck, he was chattering away to his parents when Lee walked inside.

"Hi, guys," Lee greeted them. "You mind if I see that map for a second, Ken?"

"This one here?" Kenny asked as he picked up the map and handed it over to his friend. A lot easier than the last time.

"Yeah, thanks," Lee replied, putting the map into his pocket. "I'll talk to you later."

"Later Lee." Kenny replied while he kept his eyes focused upon the tracks.

Lee exited the cab and returned to the boxcar where Clementine, Chuck, Doug, and Carley were waiting. He sat down beside Clem, who was looking out the boxcar door.

"I think this map will help us out in Savannah," Lee explained as he set the map down between them.

"That's good." Clementine agreed. "Like we're a team, right?"

"Of course we are, sweet pea," Lee assured her with a smile. Now, he had to think about what he was going to say when she asked about her parents.

"Lee, we are going to look for my parents when we're in Savannah, right?" Clementine inquired with a hopeful expression.

Oh, boy.

Lee looked away for a moment, then came up with something. "I'll tell you what, Clem. Why don't we find a shelter, and if all goes well, we can search for them." He hated lying to her, but what other option was there?

"...That sounds okay, I guess." Clementine agreed but looked somewhat disappointed.

"Alright," Lee replied. He would do whatever it took to keep who was practically his little girl away from the Marsh House at all costs.

But they had not stole from the strange this time and they had nothing to fear with the exception of the walkers and their safety.

For the time being, there wasn't much to do. Lee decided to ask Kenny and Kat about Duck's training after Omid and Christa came aboard.

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**That's the end of this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. Since it's been a few days since last update, we'll try and bring you another one tomorrow. Stay tuned until then.**


	11. Chapter 11: Omid and Christa

**Redemptive Opportunities**

**Chapter 11: Omid and Christa**

**We're back with the next chapter, folks. Before we begin, I have a question for all of you guys and gals: if you were in an zombie apocalypse, what two weapons would you have to protect yourself? Me personally would go for an AK-47 and a Katana. In the meantime, enjoy the chapter.**

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Right as Lee approached the train cab, that's when he heard Kenny yell. "OH SHIT! HANG ON, EVERYBODY!"

The train came to a screeching halt and Lee just about prevented himself from falling over. A good thing he didn't fall off, otherwise his injury would have been fatal. Once the train had stopped, Lee and the others jumped off the train and that's when they saw the half tanker dangling from the bridge, blocking their way.

Kenny stepped up and was angry that their path was blocked, but this time, he seemed to be in a calmer state since he still had his family. "Oh, shit! Well, that's just great."

"Fucking wonderful," Lilly grumbled. "How the hell are we supposed to get through this?"

"Maybe we could walk?" Ben suggested.

"Really, Ben?" Travis chastised.

Lee looked up at the top of the bridge, but Omid and Christa were nowhere to be seen, at least not for the moment. Since they did not need to stop because of Duck being bitten last time, it might take a few more moments until they showed up. He figured that he should go back to that train station in a minute.

Since it might take a couple of moments, that's when Lee decided to find Clementine, in need of her assistance. As much as he did not want to put her in danger again, Clementine was the only one who could fit through those bars.

As he walked by, everyone else got to their own thing. Kenny and his family remained in the train, Lilly stood near the bridge, Ben and Travis climbed to the top of the train to keep a lookout, Carley and Doug talked little ways, and Chuck sat on a boulder playing his guitar.

As much as Lee didn't want Clementine to go over there with him, he needed her at the moment. He found her sitting in front of Chuck, listening intently as he played a song on his guitar.

Lee knelt down to Clementine's level. "Hey, sweet pea. You want to come with me over to that station over there?"

Clementine looked over his shoulder and noticed the station. She looked a little nervous than before, but nevertheless, she nodded eagerly. "Okay, but why?"

"I want to look in there because there may be something useful to help us with the train," Lee explained. "It won't be long."

Clementine seemed satisfied with this explanation and stood up beside Lee.

"Clementine and I are going to check out that station over there," Lee called to the others. "Hustle on over if you hear anything."

"You got it." Doug nodded.

"Here." Carley called out as she tossed Lee her Glock 17 for safe keeping. Lee almost forgot about that. "Just in case you run into any trouble."

"Thanks," Lee acknowledged her. "Come on, Clem."

He led Clementine over to the little train station, same as before. This time, however, he made sure to get to the door before her instead of looking at all the signs.

"You want to look in here for me?" Lee asked. "I'll boost you."

"I can do that." Clementine nodded eagerly.

Lee knelt down and placed Clementine upon his shoulders, allowing her to look inside the station. Last time he was rambling about how to pick a lock while Clementine opened the door using the lock.

"I can see, what should I do now?" Clementine inquired as she looked inside.

"I don't suppose you could try opening it?" Lee asked, knowing full well that she could and would.

Clementine hesitated for a moment before working her magic once again, and then that familiar clicking noise was heard, meaning that the door was open now.

"You got it?" Lee inquired.

"I think so." Clementine replied as she leaned back.

Lee placed her back down and twisted the door knob until the door opened and revealed the darkness of the station. There were three walkers in here and Lee had to make sure to take care of them fast.

He turned around to face Clementine. "Let me look around for a moment," he said. He hoped that he would be able to take out both of the walkers alone this time.

Clementine nodded and waited by the exit, holding the door open to let light in since Lee had not used one of the tools this time to keep it open.

Lee searched around for a moment until the two walkers emerged from the darkness and headed towards their next meal for the day.

Quickly springing into action, Lee used a wrench to slam the head of the first one, but made sure to jump out of the way just in time before the second one could lunge at him. He lured it forward and hit it in the head, sending it down. Both of the walkers were dead, and Lee let out a sigh of relief.

He boosted Clementine inside the cage so that she could get the keys, knowing that things would go more smoothly than last time. "Go on and grab the keys, Clem."

Clementine nodded and grabbed the keys from the hook, opening the door with ease. She stepped outside the cage and could not help but as the obvious. "Lee, why did I need to go in there?"

Before Lee could answer, the walker in the cage emerged from the darkness and made its way to the cage exit.

"Get behind me," Lee practically ordered, having no time to answer. Clem obliged, and this time he used the gun to shoot the walker down. Now, they were safe again.

He grabbed the blowtorch that was once again inside, wondering if Omid and Christa were on the bridge yet, or if someone else would have to help him. The door opened, revealing Kenny, who had likely come in a hurry.

"I heard a gunshot, everything okay!?" Kenny inquired while he panted slightly from all the running. He did not receive an answer, but he figured it all out when he noticed the dead walkers. "Oh, you guys took care of them?"

"Yep." Clementine nodded.

Kenny then noticed the blowtorch in Lee's grip. "Whoa, you got a blowtorch, that'll help with the truck!"

"Sure will," Lee replied with a smile. "Let's go."

The three of them walked back out to the others, and Lilly appeared to be yelling up the bridge with everyone else watching. No doubt that Omid and Christa had now arrived.

"Are you going to be trouble?" Christa questioned with a hand placed upon her hip. "If so, we could have just kept on walking."

"Define "trouble" for us, will ya?" Carley replied while he stared at the two from above.

Lee decided to answer again. "No, we're friendly!" he called back. To Lilly, he said, "I can handle this."

"What's the problem with your train?" Omid asked.

"You're standing in front of it." Kenny sarcastically replied as he joined the others.

"Very funny." Christa replied. She did not seem to find it funny and kept her motionless expression as usual.

"Why don't you send your buddy up to have a look?" Omid suggested, unaware that the problem was basically taken care of.

Lee began to step forward when, this time; it was Lilly who stopped him.

"If they try anything, we'll cover you," she told him.

Lee nodded and climbed the ladder with one hand while using the other to hold the blowtorch. It was a little difficult with the extra weight, but he managed just fine. He could hear Omid and Christa speaking among themselves about their situation which Lee figured out the first time.

Christa was pregnant, but she never told anyone. Lee was smart enough to figure it out though.

"I think I have it all figured out, but I may still need a bit of help," Lee explained. "The name's Lee, by the way."

"Hey dude, I'm Omid," Omid nodded, greeting him with a smile.

"Christa." Christa greeted with a slight nod. "What's the deal with your group anyway?"

Lee looked down at the group, then back to the two people. "Sorry, some of them are just a bit on edge. The woman in the black jacket, Lilly, she just lost her dad recently."

"Oh." Christa nodded and seemed to understand. She had not met Lilly last time, along with Carley, Doug, Katjaa, and Duck. She narrowed her eyes towards the blowtorch. "You got a blowtorch?"

"I think it could get this tanker down," Lee explained. "We may have to be careful, though." He walked over to the prison truck and took out the yellow duct tape to cover the small hole.

"Mind if we go down and meet your group first?" Christa requested with a nod towards the bottom of the bridge.

Before Lee could answer (again), Omid beamed when he noticed Clementine had climbed up to join them and see what was happening.

"What are you doing up here?" Lee asked her, as he hadn't gotten an answer the first time.

"Oh, shit!" he cried excitedly. "Goddamn, you guys have a kid! Do you know how long it's been since we've seen a kid?" He was all smiles; he obviously liked kids, and it was obvious both this time and the time before. "Shit! What's your name?"

"Clementine." Clementine answered as she stepped forward slightly. This time, she had an answer for her guardian. "I just wanted to see what was happening and make sure you didn't get hurt."

"Okay, then," Lee nodded. He turned towards Christa and Omid. "Sure, you two can come down and meet the rest of us. But don't be surprised if not all of them are so welcoming."

"Alright, then," Omid replied.

The four of them began climbing down the ladder, approaching the group. "Guys, this is Omid and Christa," Lee announced.

"Hey, I'm Carley and this is Doug." Carley introduced herself and the other man. She did not seem to mind having newcomers into their group.

"I'm Mark." Mark greeted with a slight wave. "This here's Kenny and his family."

"Heya." Kenny merely nodded.

"That's Lilly, and those two on the train are Ben and Travis." Mark said while gesturing his hands to the teenage boys and the old man. "This here is Chuck."

"Ya'll want some candy?" Chuck offered.

"Really?" Omid asked, raising an eyebrow. "Uh...no thanks. Not right now."

"The plan is to cut down that tanker and be on our way," Lee explained. "We have everything we need."

"Then we should get to it." Kenny suggested. "I'll get the train ready just in case."

"I'll get to know the girl for a minute, if you don't mind." Christa replied, but she waited for Lee's approval before doing so.

"Sure," Lee answered, allowing Clementine to talk to Christa.

"I'll come up and see what I can do to help," Omid offered. He walked back over and followed Lee up the ladder where the blowtorch was.

Now that the blowtorch was secured with tape, Lee began to cut through the tanker a second time, but like before, it began to give away. Even though he was aware it was going, Omid still helped him out by yanking him back.

"Thanks, man," Lee told him.

"No sweat," Omid answered.

"Just the smallest cut and it'll go," Lee explained, but he knew that the tanker would fall over the ladder. How he was going to prevent Omid from getting hurt, he wasn't sure. Using him again was inevitable.

He handed Omid the blowtorch and dangled him over the edge without the shorter man getting a say in it. The rest of the group looked up from above, probably wondering what they were doing.

Lee looked up briefly and so far no walkers could be seen in the distance.

"You're a real son of a bitch, aren't ya?" Omid asked as he continued cutting.

"Shut up and keep cutting," Lee practically ordered. Once the tanker was cut, it fell over once more, preventing the only means for Lee and Omid to get down from the bridge. "Shit..."

"You guys all right?" Ben called out while Mark and Doug were trying to put the ladder back up for them to climb back down.

"We're fine!" Lee called back. "Damn it..." He just hoped upon hoped that Mark and Doug would be about to get the ladder back up for them. It wouldn't be all that easy.

It was rather strange how the giant horde of walkers hadn't appeared by now, but it was a good thing.

"Lee, we can't get the bottom half of the ladder back up!" Doug called out from below. "But the other half is still attached. You'll have to climb down halfway and jump."

"We can do that!" Lee called back. That seemed like an all right compromise. He turned to Omid. "Let's go."

"Right behind ya," Omid replied, and the two began climbing down the ladder. They jumped athletically, landing on their feet, one after the other. Luckily, Omid's leg wasn't hurting this time around.

Clementine ran to Lee and hugged him, glad that he was safe.

"You made it." Clementine smiled.

"Good job on the tanker, Lee." Kenny praised with a nod and small smile under that mustache of his. "Now let's get going, ya'll."

Everybody began boarding the train. Duck approached Omid and Christa and began chattering away to them. Omid seemed ecstatic that there was another kid here as well, and actually listened intently. Clementine sat with Lee, while Kenny and Katjaa returned to the front.

The journey of the Savannah continued which they would more than likely get there by the morning so they had some time to kill. With the extra people on board, it was beginning to get a little cramped. Mostly everyone was inside the boxcar, except for Kenny and Katjaa who were in the front, and Chuck who was at the front of the train drinking out of some alcohol.

Lee noticed Lilly sitting alone in the corner with her face lowered and her knees brought up to her chest.

He wondered what he should do, and decided to approach her carefully and calmly. Forcing her out of her shell was not exactly the best idea, since she was still morning.

Lee knelt down in front of her slowly. "Lilly?"

"Yes...?" Lilly responded, though Lee could still tell that she was not exactly in the talking mood.

"I..." Lee cut himself off, not knowing exactly what to say. It wasn't easy whatsoever to talk to someone who was grieving. "I'm sorry. We shouldn't have...you know."

"It's not your fault, Lee." Lilly replied as she looked away for a moment. "You tried to tell us not to, but my Dad didn't listen and I couldn't let him go alone."

"I understand," Lee replied. "You were just looking out for him."

Lilly nodded and placed her head in her hands, and Lee could hear some shaky breathing.

Lee looked at the ground. "I'll leave you alone for now, but if you need anything, come find me."

Lilly did not respond further.

Lee decided to leave her alone and decided to step outside the train for a while for some fresh air. Ben and Travis were still chilling just outside the boxcar until they noticed the man who saved them.

"Hey Lee." Ben greeted.

"Hey, how are you guys doing out here?" Lee wanted to know.

"We're all right," Travis responded. "I can't say that we get this lucky that often, though."

Lee smiled. "No, you're right about that."

"You think they'll be boats in Savannah, Lee?" Ben inquired with a somewhat hopeful yet doubtful expression.

Lee knew that the only boat that was left was the one in the Savannah mansion, but he decided to play dumb for now. "I'm not sure, Ben. We'll see when we get there."

There was another dilemma that he remembered: The boat was only big enough for five people.

Last time the boat was stolen by Vernon and his people, but this time, Lee was going to do his best to avoid them, but that still wouldn't solve their problem of the capacity size. For now, he would just have to go with the flow.

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**And that's chapter 11, folks. Not long now until the group reaches Savannah again. Next chapter will be here soon.**


	12. Chapter 12: Savannah

**Redemptive Opportunities**

**Chapter 12: Savannah**

**Hey everyone, we're back with the next chapter. Before we begin, I was wondering if you guys and gals would like to help me out with something. For my career, I am hoping to do YouTube and create animations. I've already uploaded a couple and have more to come. If you guys and gals could check it out and maybe subscribe or share with your friends or family, I'd really appreciate that, thank you. I'll put a link on my profile.**

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That was something Lee would worry about once the group reached Savannah, which was still hours away. There was still plenty of time for Duck to learn how to shoot. That is, if his parents would allow it.

In fact, Lee thought it was best to do it now. He made his way inside the train cab and found his friend still driving the train with Katjaa merely watching. That was until they noticed Lee arrive.

"Hello, Lee," Katjaa greeted kindly.

"Hey, guys," Lee replied. "Uh, you got a second?"

"Sure Lee." Kenny nodded but he kept his eyes focused upon the tracks in case they crashed into something. "What's up?"

"It's about Duck," Lee said slowly. He didn't want Kenny or Katjaa to get angry, but then again he wasn't sure upon how they would react. "I just taught Clementine how to shoot a gun, and I gave her a haircut. I was wondering if you would let Duck learn, too. Minus the haircut, obviously. You're never too young to learn anymore."

Kenny looked slightly surprised, but not as much as Katjaa whose eyes widened like an aliens. He stepped up out of the train chair and stood before Lee who expected to get a yelling or worse, a beating from Kenny. But he was surprised to his reaction in the end.

Kenny shifted his gaze towards Katjaa. "Hon, I think he might be right."

Katjaa, however, did not seem to agree.

"Kenny, what do you mean?" Katjaa inquired. "I don't want Duck to be involved in this sort of thing."

"Katjaa..." Lee trailed off. "It'll be good for him, I promise. He just can't sit around forever; that's how people get killed these days. It won't hurt him; it'll be good for him. Don't you want Duck to be safe?"

"Well, yes, but-" Katjaa began.

"Kat, there's going to be a time when we're not there to protect Duck anymore." Kenny interrupted her. "There comes a time when all of us need to fight for survival, no matter the cost. A gun is what saves your life from now on."

Katjaa stopped right there, and looked down at her lap. Although she still didn't like this, she knew that her husband and Lee had a point. Looking up, she replied, "Very well. You can do what you have to."

Lee gave her a smile. "Thank you, Katjaa." He turned to Kenny. "And I'm glad you agree with this. Honestly, I didn't think you would take the news so well."

"Well, I want to keep my family safe, Lee, no matter what." Kenny replied as he took out his own Glock 17 from his pocket. "Well, I better get to it. Mind keeping an eye on the train, Lee?"

"No problem, Ken," Lee answered as he watched his friend leave. He couldn't help but feel curious on how all of this was going to go. Duck wasn't a terrible listener, but just how good would he be?

He should be there to observe really, but since he and Kenny were the only ones who knew how to drive the train, he had to remain here.

At one point, they heard a couple of gunshots to which Lee assumed was Duck learning to shoot. That's when Katjaa decided to go and check on her son to if he needed any help.

A couple of moments later, Clementine joined Lee in the front of the train and sat on the other chair. "Hey Lee."

"Hey, sweet pea. How are you doing?" Lee inquired, glancing over in her direction with a smile.

"I'm doing okay." Clementine nodded with a small smile. "Kenny's teaching Duck how to shoot, just like you did with me!"

"I can tell," Lee replied. "How's it going back there so far?"

"It's going good." Clementine nodded. "Duck thought it would be cool at first, but Kenny told him that it's not something he should enjoy."

Lee chuckled. "I can only imagine, Clem," he told her. He decided to ask her something pretty important. "How are you feeling, about our plan? Are you okay?"

"I'm a little nervous." Clementine admitted, rubbing her hand against her arm. "What if there are walkers there?"

Lee remembered the first time when he had to rampage through that large horde with only one arm, but he would make damn sure that he wouldn't have to do that again.

"Don't worry. If there's walkers, we'll just avoid them or take care of them, but only if we have to," Lee assured Clementine.

"That's good." Clementine agreed. "I just hope we can find my parents there too."

Lee sighed to himself, now that he knew what had become of the girl's parents.

"We'll see, Clementine," was all he managed.

With that said and done, the two merely sat there for a while in silence until the door opened and in walked Doug.

"Hey guys." Doug greeted. "Just thought I'd take a look at the train and its functions."

"Go ahead," Lee nodded. "I think they work pretty well."

Doug decided to check out the main buttons but decided not to press anything just in case he caused the train damage. "This is a pretty cool train. I'm surprised that it still works."

"Aren't we all?" Lee answered. "I don't suppose there are any problems, right?"

"Everything looks normal to me and systems seem to be at normal level." Doug replied with a satisfied expression. "Any idea how much fuel we're on?"

Lee turned a little to his left and noticed the fuel tank. "I think we've got about three quarters of a tank left," he observed. "That should be enough to get us to Savannah."

"That's good." Doug nodded, but he decided that he got bored by now and proceeded back into the box car with the others.

The drive to Savannah was more peaceful this time around since the stranger wasn't around to stalk the group. Night would be falling soon, and he hoped to get a report on Duck's shooting skills soon.

The door opened again and in walked Kenny with a proud smile across his face. "Good news, we got Duck properly acquainted with a gun. He's actually pretty good."

"Really now?" Lee asked with a small smile in return. "That didn't take long at all."

"Yep." Kenny nodded. "But we decided that we taught him enough since we need the ammo."

"That's good," Lee replied. Night was starting to fall, and Clementine had once again fallen asleep in the opposite chair. "We'll be there soon enough."

"Well, I better take over for a while." Kenny suggested and replaced Lee in the driving seat, allowing the other man to rest for a while.

It was quite early the next morning when the train stopped at Savannah. Lee woke up just as the train slowed down, and he noticed Clementine coming into the boxcar.

"We're here!" the little girl announced.

Lee yawned as he got out from the chair and joined the others outside of the train. Everyone gathered around to see the city in the distance that Lee knew was filled with walkers. How could he stop them from going in there? Maybe the boat situation would turn into a bust and then they could just go back to the train.

Lee climbed on top of the train and used one of the rifles with a scope to check out the city. "Seems deserted, for now at least."

"Really? Are you sure?" Ben asked.

"That's great," Omid called back as Lee climbed down the ladder. "Things are looking up."

"I think we should think about this for a moment." Lee suggested to the others. "For all we know, those buildings could be filled with walkers."

"Lee's right," Kenny spoke up. "I think we ought to search the streets, too, just to see what we're getting ourselves into here."

"I think some of us should check it out while the rest stays here and guards the train." Lee suggested, surprised to Kenny's agreement, but this was more than likely because he still had his family with him.

"Ben and I can stay," Travis offered. "We can be on the lookout for any walkers that might come to the train."

"I'll stay too." Carley offered. "In case any walkers come, you'll need me to guard the train. No offence Ben, not to you either Travis."

"Kat, you and Duck need to stay too." Kenny told his wife and son as he grabbed himself a rifle.

In the meantime, Lee, Kenny, Doug, Mark, Lilly, Chuck, Omid and Christa would check the city out.

Lee nodded in agreement and knelt down to Clementine's height, placing a hand upon her shoulder. "Sweet pea, I need you to stay too."

"But why, Lee? Aren't we supposed to be a team?" Clementine asked sadly.

"Are you sure, Ken?" Katjaa asked of her husband. "I can go with you; Carley and the boys can keep an eye on Ducky."

"I'm sure, Kat." Kenny confirmed. "In case anything happens."

"We are Clementine, but what don't know what's in the city and I can't risk anything happening to you." Lee explained, but that did not seem to be enough of an answer. "Clementine, while I'm there, I promise to keep an eye out for your parents, okay? I know what they look like."

"Okay," Clementine stated glumly, hanging her head. "You'll bring them back to me if you find them right?"

"I promise, I will, Clem." Lee promised.

Clementine smiled slightly and watched as Lee and the others walked off.

It wasn't long before they were back in the familiar streets of Savannah. So far, no walkers were in sight, but knowing what happened before, it wouldn't be long until they would be.

Lee looked up towards the church, knowing that's when Molly appeared and caused the death of Chuck. They should try to avoid it.

"I think we should take this route." Lee suggested as he turned towards a street that took them around the church. "That church could be on an automatic timer. If that goes off, we don't want to be by it, you know?"

"Sounds good," Omid replied. "That way, they'll go over in the direction instead of ours."

"Good thinking," Kenny praised.

They continued heading towards another path until a moment later they heard the bells of the church ringing from the other block. Lee beckoned for them to halt and take over as the walkers on the street decided to go towards the church.

"Was I right or was I right?" Lee asked them with a grin.

"Nice thinking." Doug praised.

Lee wondered if he should lead the others to the mansion, since that was where the only boat in Savannah was. He definitely wasn't looking forward to Kenny's reaction when he found out the situation on River Street.

"So, where are we going, exactly?" Omid inquired.

"To find a boat." Kenny simply answered.

"Why?" Christa questioned.

"Because it's a good idea, is why." Kenny answered, sounding somewhat rude.

"And what happens if there aren't any boats, Kenny?" Lilly asked cockily. "Then what?"

"There will be boats." Kenny assured as he stomped off away from Lilly. "If you don't like it, princess, take a hike."

"Jackass," Lilly spat.

"Hey, guys?" Omid interjected. "You think you might want to cool it? There's got to be something."

"I am cool." Kenny assured the shorter man. "Little miss know-it-all over there likes to cause problems."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Lilly demanded.

Lee grumbled. If there was one thing that he DIDN'T want to bring back, it was Lilly and Kenny's constant bickering. But there were some sacrifices that had to be made, of course.

"Don't get me started; I have a full list that would take all day to read." Kenny sarcastically replied as they turned around the corner of a building.

Lee ignored them and listened as more walkers continued to go for the church. He felt lucky that he was able to get the group away from this situation.

Finally, after a few minutes of wondering around, they stumbled upon the dockyard but that's when the sight of the destroyed boats came into sights, leaving Kenny stunned.

"Damn." Doug muttered. "Looks like we weren't the only people with a boat plan."

"See? What did I tell you?" Lilly scoffed, crossing her arms.

"Uhh...time for a Plan B?" Omid suggested.

Kenny, however, refused to believe that and ran towards the destroyed boats.

"Hmm." Chuck hummed as he placed his shovel over his shoulder.

"Kenny, what are you doing?" Mark inquired as he followed him other there.

"There's got to be something, there's got to be!" Kenny nearly moaned. "Don't tell me that we came all the way here for nothing!" He scanned around. The mustached man ran for the boat he originally tried working on before, but Lee knew that he wouldn't succeed.

"Kenny, these boats are fucked." Lee stated the obvious. "Look, don't you remember the backup plan? Florida."

"And how the fuck are we supposed to get there, Lee?" Kenny practically snapped. "The train doesn't have that much gas."

"Then what are we going to do? Swim to safety?" Lee replied with a hint of sarcasm. "Open your fucking eyes, Kenny, these boats aren't getting us anywhere."

Kenny grunted, knowing now that there was no fixing the boat. "Damn it. Goddamn it!" he yelled out, kicking a rock out if the way. "We're fucked."

"Are you sure there's not something in any of the houses?" Omid asked.

"I don't think so." Lee replied. "These houses all have X marks on them, probably meaning they've been searched." he turned around and pointed towards the barrier of undead walkers that blocked off Crawford. "By the people who live there." he pointed.

"Jesus..." Lilly trailed off. If people thought she was bad, then they obviously hadn't seen what Crawford was like.

"How could somebody do this?" Omid asked.

"I don't know, but I don't intend to find out." Lee replied as he prepared to leave the area. "Let's just...Get...Going..."

Lee trailed off when he saw two walkers in the distance nearby, but they weren't just walkers. They were Clementine's parents. Either this was fate telling him to kill them or this was just one major coincidence. "Shit..."

"What's wrong, Lee?" Doug inquired. "It's just a couple of walkers."

"They're Clementine's parents." Lee explained.

"What?" Kenny asked, looking over at the two. "Are you serious?"

"God. Poor Clem," Omid said sadly. "What are you going to do?"

Lily just sighed and looked away.

"I have to put them out of their misery." Lee replied with a sigh as he took out one of the wrenches and slowly began to approach the undead Ed and Diana.

With one powerful blow to each of their heads, Ed and Diana were now dead. Lee knelt down to their corpses and paid them a moment of respect. "I'm sorry we couldn't save you, I really am, but I promise, your little girl is in safe hands and I'll protect her no matter what."

While he was paying his respects, Mark used one of the walkie-talkies to get in touch with the others. During their time at the motor inn, the group sometimes used walkie-talkies to communicate. Clementine still had her own walkie-talkie, Mark had one and Carley had the other at the moment.

"Hey Carley, you there?" Mark questioned.

_"I'm here, what's up?"_ Carley replied after a static noise was heard. _"Did you find a boat?"_

"No, the boats are broken and beyond repair." Mark answered while he then brought up another problem. "And we just found Clementine's parents...They're dead..."

_"Oh, my God,"_ Carley stated remorsefully. _"So...now what? How are you going to tell her? She and Duck are playing in the boxcar right now."_

"I think it's best if Lee's the one to do it." Mark suggested as he turned towards Lee who had just finished paying his respects. "Just don't tell her anything for now, okay?"

_"Will do,"_ Carley responded. _"We'll see you guys when you get back. Out."_

"Out." Mark replied.

Lee rejoined the others and looked towards the barrier once more before he decided he had seen enough. He knew about the boat in the mansion, but he did not want mention it. It was too small for all of them and would only cause tension. "Let's back to the train. Kenny, the boat dream's gone here."

"Fine," Kenny grumbled. He had no choice, anyway, since his family was still alive. "Let's head back."

The group began making their way back to the train, their plan lost. They were almost there when Lee felt a piece of paper hit his shoe from a gust of chilly wind. Curiously, he picked it up.

Lee read its contents closely and his eyes widened that caused him to call the group back just as they got out of the city and were at the outskirts. "Guys! Look at this."

He handed the paper to Lilly for her to see.

"What's this?" she questioned, taking it and scanning it briefly. "It's a map. It leads us to some place called...Wellington? It's somewhere in Ohio. But why the hell would someone make a map to a place so far away?"

"It must be a safe zone!" Lee exclaimed as he took the paper a second time and turned it around. "Look, there's writing. It says, "Come to Ohio and find Wellington for safety. Food, water, supplies, and guaranteed safety. Don't trust Crawford"."

"How do we know this place is legit?" Lilly asked, remembering the St. Johns. "These 'safe places' could be anywhere."

"Let me see that," Kenny said as he took the paper and saw for himself. He ignored Lilly for once. "Holy shit...maybe this is the real deal, Lee. This might just be a safe place for my family."

"For all of us." Lee agreed, but he noticed Lilly not looking so agreeable. "Lilly, think about it: would they really post these around for nothing? Sending us all the way there just to kill us? We have to take a chance if it means surviving."

"Ohio is a hell of a long way." Mark spoke up.

"You think we could scrounge up gas?" Kenny inquired.

"Lee's right, Christa," Omid said to his girlfriend. "This could be a safe place for the-"

"Omid!" Christa snapped as she covered up his mouth.

"What's wrong with you two?" Doug inquired. "Safe place for whom?"

"Uhh...nothing! Nothing!" Omid replied, smiling. But it was obvious that he was a terrible liar. Lee knew that Christa was pregnant, but he dared not mention it.

"Uh, alright then," Kenny frowned.

"We'll talk about it later; let's just get back to the train." Lee suggested as they continued walking away from the city.

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**Well, well, it seems a lot has happened in this chapter. Clementine's parents have been discovered, no Molly, and by the look of things, the group may be going to Wellington soon. Stay tuned for the next chapter, ladies and gentlemen.**


	13. Chapter 13: journey to Wellington

**Redemptive Opportunities**

**Chapter 13: journey to Wellington**

**Yo, yo, yo, everyone. We're back with more chapters. Regarding me last author's note, I recently went up quite a bit in subscribers than usual. Not sure if it was from you guys and gals, but if so, thank you. **

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It did not take them that long to reach the train where the others were waiting for them with Carley keeping watch.

"We're back." Doug announced.

"Great," Carley replied with a smile, climbing down from the train. She looked over at Lee, her expression changing to a sad one. "Clementine's in the boxcar with Duck, Lee. You can tell her whenever you're ready." She looked to the others. "I think we should give Clementine her space for a while."

The others seemed to agree with that.

Lee climbed into the boxcar where Clementine was talking with Duck. He hated to do this, but it had to be done. "Hey Clementine, I'm back."

"Hey, Lee!" Clementine gave him a smile, and he hated that that sweet smile was momentarily going to be wiped off of her face. "You didn't find a boat?"

"No, sweet pea. There weren't any left." Lee replied while shaking his head slightly. "Listen, mind if we go to the front of the train for a minute?"

"Sure, Lee," Clementine said. She got up and walked with him to the front.

Now alone, Lee had to tell the young girl the truth of her parents fate. Last time she had to witness it for herself and Lee failed to comfort her when he passed out.

"Clementine..." Lee trailed off as he knelt down to her height. "I found your parents, sweat pea, but they...They were walkers...I'm sorry, Clementine."

"Wh-What?" Clementine whispered, tears springing to her golden eyes. It only took a moment for them to begin escaping. "They...they...nooooo." She said it so quietly that it almost came out more like a squeak. She sniffled and looked up at her guardian innocently. "Why? It's not fair!" She grabbed Lee's shirt and began to sob openly.

Lee hugged her for comfort, unable to imagine how she was feeling. He too lost his family, but Clementine was just a kid. "Shh, shh, I know. Shh."

Clementine returned the hug and continued to sob. It was as if no other person in the world existed at that moment. Lee gently rubbed her back and whispered soothing words into her ears for the following few minutes

While Lee comforted Clementine, the others were discussing their plain about Wellington. If this place was real, they had to make a go for it.

"Just imagine a place where we can be safe." Kenny stated. "A place where we don't have to fear anything. I say we head there. What do y'all think?"

"I think it sounds too good to be true, but I'm down." Ben agreed with a nod.

"We're with you too." Doug spoke up for himself and Carley.

"We'll go, too," Omid spoke up, holding Christa's hand in his. Christa thought about it for a moment, then sighed reluctantly. It was obvious that we didn't trust so easily.

"I'm in," Travis smiled.

Lilly turned away for a moment. At first she didn't want to go, but she wanted peace. And maybe Wellington would have that for her. She sighed and said, "Me too."

"Well, might as well come along too." Chuck agreed, but he did not seem to mind where they went.

"That's all of us in then." Mark spoke up with a nod. He turned back towards the train cab where they could hear Clementine sobbing. "Just need to hear Lee's opinion."

"Give them a minute," Kenny said as he briefly turned to look at the front cab.

"Mommy, why is Clementine so sad?" Duck asked.

"Clementine lost her parents, Ducky." Katjaa explained to her son, deciding to be honest.

"Oh, that's sad," Duck replied.

Lee came out of the cab then, without Clementine. He glanced behind him before turning to the others. "So, what's the plan on Wellington?"

"We've talked about it and decided that it's the best thing to do." Carley answered with a hand placed upon her hip.

"So it's settled then," Kenny announced. "Everybody back on the train. There should be tracks coming up that lead to north. And we can find some gas if we're lucky."

"You sure this train leads to Ohio?" Lee inquired as he climbed onto the front of the train.

"We'll just have to wait and see, I guess," Kenny shrugged. "I mean, hell, these tracks could take us anywhere."

"We can't just go roaming anywhere, dumbass." Lilly told him. "Don't you think you should find a map?"

"We have a map!" Kenny barked. "Are you that fucking unobservant?"

"I didn't know that, did I?" Lilly snapped. "Why did you mention they could take us anywhere if you have a map?!"

"Guys, come on," Mark tried to reason. "Maybe there's more than one track! What good has arguing ever done for either of you?"

That's when Lee finally decided to step in. Usually he either remained silent or tried to defuse the situation calmly, but this time, he had enough of them. "That does it! For three months, I've had to hear you two argue every day and night, and not only does it annoy me, but it annoys Clementine, Duck, all of us! Both of you, shut the fuck up! What is the matter with you two? It's the middle of an apocalypse, the dead are rising and trying to kill us, and all you two want to do is bicker like a pair of fucking children? You want to be treated like children? Fine! Both of you, grow the fuck up and stop all this arguing!"

Both Lilly and Kenny gawked at him in astonishment. Lee usually didn't get this angry, so it was a rare sight not only for them, but for everyone else, too.

Kenny grumbled, and gave him a glare. "Fine. Let's just go."

Kenny and his family got to the front of the train and proceeded to start the train up and get on their way.

"Nice group you got here." Christa commented as she and Omid climbed onto the train.

Lee followed them into the boxcar where Clementine was sitting against the corner of the wall, holding her father's hat in her hands.

Lee looked at her for a moment, but decided to give her some space for a while. God knew that she needed it.

He looked out the boxcar door, watching as the Savannah buildings were coming out of view. He hoped that the train could get them where they were now going.

But from this point forward, Lee had no idea what was going to happen now. Savannah was the last place he got to before he...Before he decided the first time. He had no idea what to expect this time, but he had to keep the group safe and prepare for the worse no matter what.

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They got lucky, because they found a track facing north some hours after exiting Savannah. They had found some fuel at an abandoned train station the very next morning (after making sure that the place was clear of walkers, of course). It was a few days later bow, and the group were close to the border between Tennessee and Kentucky.

However, as the train went at full speed, Kenny spotted yet another obstacle in their path and quickly pulled down on the brakes. The group got outside to the train to find out what was blocking their way.

"Goddamn it!" Kenny yelled.

Blocking their path this time was a large moving truck. How they were going to get this out of the way was beyond them.

"This isn't as bad as the one on the bridge." Doug stated as a couple of them approached the truck. "If it still works, we can just drive it out the way. If not, we just set it in neutral and push it."

"Why don't we test it out?" Omid asked. "I call driving!" He started making his way over to the driver's seat, but Cheista pulled him back and shook her head.

"I guess I can do it," Mark offered.

"Omid, don't forget that you hit someone down once." Christa reminded her boyfriend.

"We'll keep watch." Carley offered as she climbed to the stop of the train and kept watch for any walkers.

"Come on, babe, the guy was fine!" Omid replied, but he was smiling.

Clementine was seated at the edge of the edge of the boxcar, legs dangling. Duck was leaving her alone at the request of his parents. Lee debated on checking on her.

It had been a few days but she was still in deep mourn of her parents. Lee sighed as he got back into the train cab and decided to give her something to cheer her up. When he met Clementine again at her home, he took the photo frame of her family and kept it all these months just in case she was beginning to miss them deeply.

Once he got the photo, Lee got into the boxcar and sat beside her. "Hey sweet pea..."

"Hey, Lee," Clementine replied, looking up at him sadly. She played with her hands that were seated on her lap.

Lee revealed the photo frame and offered it to Clementine with a small smile. "I can't imagine how you're feeling, Clementine, and I wish there was something I could do to take the pain away. This won't help with that, but it's a start...Here."

Clementine gasped lightly, slowly taking the photo from him. She stroked it once with fresh tears in her eyes, then set it aside and gave Lee a hug, much to his surprise. "Thank you, Lee. Thank you."

Lee returned the hug slightly, relieved that he was able to do something to help her in her time of need. He did not get the chance to last time. "You're welcome, Clem."

Through her tears, the little girl managed to give him a tiny smile, letting him know more that she appreciated it as she picked up the photo and hugged it close.

Lee decided to give her some space for now and went to go and see if he could help out with the truck to get things moving again. He could see Mark with Ben and Travis trying to move with forcefully while Doug was working on the steering wheel.

"Move you...!" Mark groaned.

The boys were fervently trying to help push the truck without much avail.

"Can't...heavy..." Ben groaned.

"Hurry up, we gotta get a move on!" Kenny hollered.

"We're trying, we're trying!" Omid cried defensively.

Lee decided to go and speak to Doug who was trying to hot wire the truck from underneath. "Doug? What are you doing?"

"I want to see if I can hotwire this thing, get it working," Doug explained. "I took some auto shop classes in high school. I wasn't too terrible at it."

"So the truck's got fuel?" Lee questioned like an idiot.

"Yup. Should be ready soon," Doug confirmed.

"Well, good luck hot wiring it." Lee replied whilst he looked around the truck and noticed a couple of walkers in the distance, but they did not seem to notice them yet. "Shit. Hope there's not more of them out there."

Carley got her firearm ready, just in case. But it didn't seem like she needed to use it at the moment. Not unless she wanted to waste perfectly good ammunition.

It took a couple of moments until finally, they heard a spark from the truck and it roared to life, but the problem was that Doug accidentally set off the car alarm simultaneously and that would without a doubt attract walkers around the area.

"Doug, turn that OFF!" Mark shouted at the top of his lungs.

Doug quickly and frantically obliged, although it took a few more moments. They got the truck off of the road as quickly as possible before the group heard the walkers' moans grow closer.

"Come on! Let's go, let's go!" Kenny shouted, clapping his hands for them to move faster.

Everyone jumped onto the train as quick as they could and Kenny quickly started the train. As the train slowly got off to a start, walkers were trying to climb onto the boxcar. The group worked hard to prevent them from getting on. When Omid was not paying attention, a walker gripped onto his ankle and tried to pull him off the boxcar.

"Omid!" Lee shouted as he and Christa grabbed onto him.

Lee punched the walker in the face and did his best to detach it's rotten hand from Omid's shoulder. This took the entire arm off. He and Christa were able to pull the walker off in the end, with Lee kicking it off, miraculously without getting bit in the process.

"Whew, thanks," Omid said.

Lee merely nodded in response.

By now, the train was a fast enough speed to prevent the walkers from getting onto the train and they were on their way to Wellington again.

"That was a close one," Carley breathed a sigh of relief.

"Damn sure was," Mark agreed.

"I did NOT want to leave this train again." Ben admitted as he collapsed beside Travis in the corner of the boxcar.

"Hopefully we won't have to do that again," Travis added, wiping a beat of sweat from his forehead despite that it was a bit cold outside.

"Could have been worse." Chuck assured them as he stood by the boxcar door.

Now, they could focus on getting to Wellington without (hopefully) any more incidents. For awhile, Lee sat with Carley and Doug.

"How you guys doing?" Lee inquired to the duo. I felt a little weird to speak with both Carley and Doug at the same time since last time only one of them survived.

"We're fine, Lee," Carley answered.

"Yup," Doug nodded curtly.

Carley looked over Lee's shoulder at Clementine. "Do you think she'll be okay? I know she probably isn't doing so well."

"I gave her a photo of her family earlier." Lee explained, taking a quick glance towards his adoptive daughter. "It helped a little bit..."

"That's good," Doug said.

"Seems like it did," Carley agreed. "She'll get through it."

"I hope so, Carley." Lee hoped with a somewhat doubtful expression. He decided to change the subject for now. "You guys looking forward to getting to Wellington?"

"I am," Doug spoke up. "If the place is really what it says, hopefully there will be power and good watchmen."

"All we can do is hope and pray." Lee replied, but he had hope that Wellington was there.

"Right. It would be nice to not have to worry about the walkers anymore," said Carley.

"That, and food." Lee added. Food was defiantly one of the most important requirements to survival.

"I'm sure we have enough until we get to Wellington," Doug replied. "We just need to keep handling the rations properly."

"I'll handle the rations." Lee reassured them. Since he spent enough time here, he decided to go and check on Clementine for a while to see how she was doing. "I'll catch you guys later."

Lee got up and sat down beside Clementine who still had the photo frame of her family in her hands. "Hi Clem."

"Hi," Clementine said almost inaudibly. She was still holding the photo close, now having another treasured item to have.

"How you feeling, sweetie?" Lee inquired, but he had the feeling the response was not going to be the one he would have preferred.

Clementine didn't say anything for a few seconds. When she found her voice, she said, "Not good. I really miss them, Lee."

"I know it's hard, Clem, but your parents are in a better place now." Lee reassured her as he placed an arm around her. "When I found your parents as walkers, it was hard to do but they were in pain, Clementine and those walkers were no longer your parents. But now they have peace and that'll always be with you in spirit.

Clementine nodded, sniffling. She seemed to know what Lee was implying, but she wasn't angry at him for it because she was glad that her parents weren't in pain anymore. She was going to be strong for herself, for Lee, and for the others.

"It'll be okay." Lee assured her one final time. "We're all here for you."

Clementine nodded and placed her head on Lee's shoulder. "Okay."

Lee placed his arm around her and allowed Clementine to lean on him until she was asleep. The night began to take over and before long, the group were preparing to sleep. Most of them slept in the boxcar with the side doors closed.

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**That's the end for this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. Only a couple of chapters left to go. Let's hope the group can make it to Wellington soon.**


	14. Chapter 14: safety

**Redemptive Opportunities**

**Chapter 14: safety**

**Hey, hey, everyone, it's Assassin's Creed Master with A Writer With Mixed Interests, back with the next chapter. It's Monday; the day where you have to go back to school/college/university/work. As I always say to my friends "It could be worse". Here's chapter 14 and it's a long one. Enjoy.**

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The train finally reached the border of Ohio. The group was passing by an abandoned corner store when Lee saw something taped to one of the poles. Quickly, he reached for it and examined it. It was a map to the rest of the way to Wellington.

"What's that?" Lilly asked.

"It's the rest of the map to Wellington." Lee exclaimed in an excited tone. "We're close!"

"Really? Let me see," Omid said, taking the map. "Holy shit! At this rate, we should be there in less than an hour."

Lee had done it. He was going to save the people he could not save in the past and was finally getting them to a place of safety, a place where they no longer had to fear the outside world, a place to keep his sweet pea safe. A place to call home once and for all.

"Let's get what we can and go." Lee suggested, not wanting to waste no time.

"What about the train?" Doug inquired as he grabbed some of their supplies.

"If the place is a bust, we can always come back," Carley suggested with a shrug.

"Alright, everyone get what you need, let's hit the road," Kenny called.

And so the journey continued and the group proceeded towards where the map leaded them to with Kenny leading the way. Lee remained in the center of their group with Clementine walking beside him. The young girl was holding a backpack that contained her drawings, photo of her family and her walkie-talkie. She seemed to be doing better than before.

"Hey sweat pea." Lee greeted. "Looking forward to getting to Wellington?"

Clementine nodded. It was obvious that she was still sad, but she was a very strong little girl, and was holding on slowly but surely. "I hope it's safe there."

"It will be, Clementine, I promise." Lee assured her as they continued walking through the woods. He thought of something that may cheer her up a little. "You know, maybe they might have a school there too. You like school, right?"

Here, Clementine managed a little smile. "Yeah. First grade was easy. I kind of miss school."

"Well, then maybe we'll be in luck." Lee replied with a slight nod. "If not, we could set up our own classroom. Just me and you."

Clementine grimaced. "Will there be homework?"

"No, Clem." Lee grinned.

"Hey, Dad, what's that?" Duck asked, pointing up ahead.

He was pointing at a place with large gray wall that had a fair building job. Below it was something that appeared to be a closed red gate, meaning that it was possibly the entrance. On the other side, there was some kind of fire going, and hammering along with other construction sounds could be heard.

"Well, I'll be damned..." Kenny muttered.

"Is that..." Lilly trailed off. "Holy shit. I thought it wasn't real."

Lee laughed in relief for a moment until he took Clementine's hand and ran as fast as he could towards the entrance. "We did it! Let's go, guys!"

As they approached the gate, a woman's voice rang out on a microphone that caused all of them to halt in their tracks.

"That's far enough," the woman spoke to them. "Please drop your weapons and approach the gate."

Hesitantly, the group obliged. Lilly was pretty reluctant to give hers up for obvious reasons, but she did it along with the group. They slowly walked to the gate. The woman who had spoken to them appeared. She had brown hair and was wearing a camouflage jacket as it was getting cold.

"Hi, I'm Edith," she greeted them. "Welcome. I assume you all found our flier?"

"Yep, found it in Savannah." Lee answered with a nod. "Came all the way from a train."

"So this is Wellington?" Doug asked the obvious.

"Many people call it that," Edith replied. "Our community is nearing completion in building, but we have enough shelters up to start accepting new members. May I have your names, please?"

"I'm Kenny, this here's my wife Katjaa, and our son Kenny Junior."

"Name's Omid, this here's Christa." Omid took Christa's hand.

"I'm Carley."

"Lilly."

"Chuck or Charles if you fancy."

"I'm Ben Paul and this is Travis."

"I'm Doug."

"I'm Lee and this here is Clementine." Lee was the last to introduce himself to the group.

Edith nodded and spoke into her walkie-talkie. "There's a group just outside the gate. They look harmless enough; should I let them in? ...There are thirteen people...alright, I'll open the gates."

She put her walkie-talkie away. "That was the chief in command. He said it was okay to let you all in," she said.

She pressed a button, and the gate opened up.

Lee turned towards the group and beckoned for them to follow him inside.

The group picked up their weapons and supplies and proceeded inside Wellington and once they were inside, their eyes widened and they looked surprised when they saw the inside of Wellington. It was like a town with three story apartment buildings, a couple of weapons shop for ammunition with a shooting range behind it, a small hospital too along with a supermarket area that had food and water. How they were able to do all this in three months was a mystery, but the point was, they were here now.

There were still some buildings under construction, mainly apartment buildings, but there were still quite a few people present.

"Wow." Lee breathed astound.

"I think I'm going to faint." Doug admitted.

"My God..." Lilly whispered.

"Look at this place!" Kenny exclaimed. "It's got everything we need and more. Kat, I really think this could be a place we can stay."

"I could get used to this," Katjaa mused with a small smile.

"I like this place, it makes me think of before," Clementine said. "Do you think we'll be safe here, Lee?"

"I think we'll be safe here, Clementine." Lee reassured her with a smile as he held her hand. He studied the inside of Wellington and felt as if all this was a dream. "Wow, this is amazing. How did you get this wall up so fast?" he asked Edith.

"The walls were originally parts from a construction site a few miles down the way," Edith explained. "We wanted to get these walls up as quickly as possible, so some of the people who used to work at the construction site, those who were still alive, got together and started putting the walls together. It was the chief's idea; he was prepared for the apocalypse."

"Hmm, well it's a great wall." Lee complemented as he looked around one more time, getting to know the scenery better since they were going to be staying here. "So do we need to meet with the chief or are we good to stay?"

"I think it's okay, but he may want to meet you all, just to be safe," Edith answered. "Come along with me. You all can meet him, and then I can show you where you'll be staying."

"Sounds good." Lee nodded as he and the others followed Edith towards the chief's office.

"Don't mess this up, guys." Mark requested to Kenny and Lilly.

Lilly rolled her eyes but didn't say anything.

Edith led the group to one of the smaller shelters and knocked on the door. "Sir? I've brought the new people here. I figured you might want to meet them."

"Send them in," a male voice replied.

Edith nodded and stood outside, telling the group to go inside.

Lee walked inside with the others not far behind him and told them he would handle the talking. He approached the chief and nodded in a greeting. "It's nice to meet you. My name's Lee."

"Clinton Alexander," the chief introduced himself. He was a man around his early sixties with an average build, and he appeared to have a smart attitude. "Welcome to Wellington."

"Thank you," Carley replied with a short nod.

"I hope you all find solace and comfort here," Clinton continued. "If you have questions about anything, don't hesitate to let me know."

"Just one question we all have to ask." Lee replied. "Is it safe here? I mean safe as in never-can-get-attacked-safe."

"I can assure you that it's perfectly safe," Clinton replied. "We always have the best guards on watch, most who were formerly in the military, day and night. There's plenty of ammunition in our weapons shop, and someone always knows if a walker is close by."

"That's perfect." Lee was satisfied with that answer. "Thank you. Mind if we settle in now? It's been a long journey."

"Of course," Clinton nodded. "Edith, please show these people where they'll be staying."

"Yes, sir," Edith nodded. She led the group out of the office and to one of the apartment buildings. "There's plenty of space here for all of you, enough to pick out what apartment you'd like. Come find the chief or myself if you need anything, okay?"

"Of course." Lee nodded and proceeded to lead the group to the apartments where they would be staying. At last, they could finally sleep without worry.

He and Clementine chose a small, two-bedroom apartment across the way from Kenny and his family. Clearly there were some engineers around here as well, because when Lee turned on a lamp, it actually worked.

"I wish we still had real TV," Clementine mused, looking at the television. Why there was one here, Lee didn't know, but it didn't matter.

"At least we have electricity to keep us warm." Lee reminded while he lied down on one of the beds and sighed deeply. "Ahh. This bed is comfortable, Clementine."

Clementine took a seat on the other bed. "This one is, too. It's more comfy than the motor inn."

"Amen to that." Lee agreed with his eyes closed.

Before Lee could get any rest, he decided to check on the others to see how they were doing. "Why don't you unpack while I check on the others, Clementine?"

"Okay, Lee," Clementine nodded. She removed her backpack and unzipped it, rummaging through it.

Lee first decided to check on Kenny and his family. He knocked on their door and was granted access by Katjaa. Their room was a little bigger with a double bed and a single bed.

"Hello, Lee, are you settling in okay?" Katjaa asked, stepping aside to invite him in.

"Settling in just perfect." Lee answered with a smile while he walked inside. "Just thought I'd ask you the same thing? You three settling in good?"

"I think we're doing okay," Katjaa replied. Lee could see Duck jumping on his bed, with Kenny lifting him and placing him on the ground.

"Don't jump on the bed, okay?" he said, but not harshly. He turned to his friend. "Hey, Lee."

"Heya Kenny." Lee greeted with a nod. "How you three settling in?"

"Pretty good," Kenny smiled. "Real glad we found this place, you know? Now I can guarantee Kat and Duck's safety."

"Same with Clementine." Lee agreed with a nod. He still had to check on the others before he would decide to go exploring for a while. "I'll talk to you guys later."

Next Lee decided to go next door and check on Carley and Doug who both were going to share a room together with two single beds. He entered their room after he knocked. "Hey guys. Just thought I'd check in and see how you're doing."

"I think we're fine, Lee," Carley answered with a smile. "I never thought we would find a legitimately safe place. It's almost like paradise."

"And they got technology here too." Doug answered while he turned on a lamp to prove that theory. "It's awesome!"

"Glad you guys are liking the place." Lee replied with small smile.

"It's great," Carley answered. She took off her jacket and placed it on a rack in the corner of the room. "It's like a real home."

"Think you'll be able to get some better sleep now?" Lee asked.

During their time at the motor inn, Carley had trouble getting to sleep at night. Whenever it was because of the walkers or the motel was unknown.

"God, I hope so," Carley replied. "It'll be nice not to have to do night watches anymore."

"True, but we should help pull our weight around here." Lee suggested to the duo. "There's still much to do on the inside."

"Right," Doug agreed. "Maybe I can convince someone to let me put an alarm in, like I did at the motor inn."

"That sounds good," said Carley.

"We'll ask around once we get to know the place better." Lee agreed. Now that he checked up on those two, he decided to go and check on Omid and Christa lastly since he did not want to spend all day going room to room. "I'll catch you guys later."

Lee located Omid and Christa's new room and did not even need to knock when he spotted Omid jumping up and down on the bed. He let out a slight laugh as he walked inside. "Looks like you guys are settling in."

"Omid, get down from there." Christa told him, but she was chuckling. "You're going to break the bed."

"Pft, no I won't," Omid scoffed playfully, but he got down and sat on the bed anyway. He noticed Lee there and gave him a grin. "Hey, dude. You and Clem doing alright?"

"Doing perfect now that we're here." Lee answered as he took a seat on an armchair in their room.

"Good to hear it," Omid replied. "Man, no more walkers. How cool is that, huh?"

""Cool" isn't the word I'd use to describe it." Lee admitted. "Well, just thought I would check on in your two and see how you are settling in."

"We're fine," Christa assured him. Lee noticed her place a hand on her stomach but didn't say anything about it.

"Me and Clem we're going to take a walk around the place in a minute. You guys want to join us?" Lee offered with a nod towards the outside.

"Why not? It'll be good to see what the entire place is like," Omid replied, standing up.

"I'll go too," Christa reciprocated.

At that, Omid walked over and helped Christa stand up, and then the three went back to Lee's room to retrieve Clementine.

"Hey sweet pea, you want to come with us and take a look around?" Lee offered.

Clementine had been patiently waiting for Lee to return, so she nodded and got off of her bed. She took Lee's hand and the four of them began exploring Wellington. Most of the buildings were still under construction, but they already had enough buildings set up for shelter, supplies and weapons.

"Everything's big," Clementine said.

"It's like the whole world just rebuilt itself." Lee added as they passed a few buildings.

As they were walking, they noticed a group of people standing together talking until they noticed the newcomers and three of them decided to greet them. One of them was a Hispanic man with a checkered girl with a younger girl walking with him who they assumed was his daughter and with them was a man in an orange shirt and another man with a cap and hairstyle similar to Kenny's.

"Hello." the Hispanic man greeted. "We haven't seen you around here before. Did you join recently if I might ask?"

"Yeah. We just got here a little while ago, actually," Lee replied. "It seems like an okay place so far."

"Okay? It's more than okay!" Omid exclaimed.

Lee glanced at him, and continued. "Name's Lee. This is Clementine, Omid, and Christa."

"I'm Carlos, and this is my daughter Sarah." the Hispanic man introduced himself and the others. "And these two are my friends Luke and Nick."

"Hey there," Luke nodded with a small smile. Nick nodded in return.

"Hi," Sarah gave a small wave.

"Nice to meet you." Lee greeted in a friendly manner. He could tell these people were good guys. "How long you been in Wellington?"

"A couple months," Luke answered. "They joined us in the beginning." Here he referred to Carlos and Sarah. "Us and a few more knew each other for a long time and were walking, but stopped when Niko's uncle Pete found a flier for this place. It just blew against his foot out of nowhere. We were going to head to Carolina, but decided to come this way to avoid the cold up there. So we decided to see what it was like, and now, here we are."

"I thought it was bullshit for a long time," Nick said, more to himself than to anyone. Louder, he said, "Got a few more of us, too. My mom and uncle, and there's another couple."

"We'll have to meet them all sometime." Lee suggested to his new neighbors. "There's around thirteen of us. Most of us made it, except for one of us."

"Thirteen? Wow," Luke shook his head. "Well, we're sorry for whatever's happened to you guys. But we can assure you that everything's perfectly fine here."

"No argument here." Lee replied. Now that he met some of the locals, it could make looking around this place a lot easier. "Since you guys have been here for a while, mind giving us a tour of the place?"

Carlos nodded. "Sure. Follow us," he said. He walked away with his daughter and friends following, and Lee and the others began following them too. The first place they entered was the shooting range, where some people ranging from Sarah's age to adulthood were training to use guns.

"This here's our training facility," Luke explained. "I think what they do here is pretty self-explanatory." Here, he chuckled.

"Amen to that." Lee replied with a slight grin. "I bet Carley would like it here."

"Who's Carley?" Nick inquired.

"One of our group members." Lee answered. "She's the best shot you'll ever meet. She could shoot a fly off someone's head from a mile away."

"Sounds like she'll be useful, then," Luke commented as they all walked by the trainees.

Once they were about to exit, Omid noticed one of the shelves full of weapons and walked over to it. "Holy shit! Look guys, there's a ton of weapons ranging from guns, to grenades, to just, everything!"

"It gets better than that." a man spoke up who approached the group. He looked to be in his late forties with an army camouflage uniform on, hinting he was in the army. He seemed to be in charge of this gun store and weapons for this area. "Take a look at this."

He showed them a mounted MG inside of his store where other various weapons hung on the wall.

"Wow..." Omid trailed off as he gawked at everything. "Baby, look at all this! There's enough weapons and ammo to last someone for years!"

"You guys have really come prepared, haven't you?" Christa asked.

"The military had the feeling one day the world would go onto a world where everything was beginning to fall apart, and we chose this area to fortify and start over in case it happened. A good thing too." the man explained as he showed them one more weapon: an RPG. "I've been saving this baby for a rainy day."

Omid laughed delightedly. "This is fucking great!" he grinned.

"Wow...that's huge!" Clementine exclaimed.

Now that they were done looking at weapons (and the fact Carlos did not want his daughter around that area), Luke escorted Lee, Clementine, Omid and Christa around Wellington more, showing them other buildings too.

"We're also stocked up on food, medical supplies, and everything else people need for survival," Luke explained. "But I think you can tell by all of the buildings already. We've also got an area where people can get clothes for the winter. It's going to be damn cold then."

"You guys got everything here. I literally mean everything." Lee praised while wondering slightly if this was all just an illusion from the infection, but no, this was real.

"Damn right," Nick agreed with a smile.

"Seems like this is too good to be true," said Christa.

"But it is!" Omid replied.

"We're so glad to be here." Carlos admitted as he held his daughter's hand in his own. "When all this started, I was worried for my daughter and had no idea what we would do. But then we met the others on the road and we all stuck together until we made it here."

"This place is amazing," Sarah added with a smile. "We got really lucky."

"It does sound like a real lucky break," Omid agreed. "I mean, where else are you going to find a place with all of this? Electricity, food; hell, we're glad to have found this place when we did!"

"Why don't you guys come meet the rest of us?" Carlos suggested. "We all live in apartment building four on the top floor."

"Which apartment you live in?" Nick asked Omid.

"We live just below you guys, I think," Omid replied. "But sure, we'd love to come meet your people." Here, he smiled, as he had loved to meet new people before. Now here at Wellington, he didn't have to worry about someone jumping out and killing them.

"Follow us." Nick replied, nodding towards the apartment building.

"Are other friends are Alvin, Rebecca, Helen and Pete." Luke told the group for them to know his friend's names. "Alvin and Rebecca are a couple, Helen is Nick's mother and Pete is Nick's uncle."

"All of them are really nice," Sarah said with a light smile.

Within a couple minutes, they reached the apartment building and began up the stairs. Carlos took a key out of his pocket and opened the door. On the sofa were two women who were having a conversation.

"Helen, Rebecca, these are the new people," Luke said. "This is Lee, Christa, Omid, and...Clementine, right?"

Clementine nodded.

"It's nice to meet you all. Do come in." Helen offered in a friendly tone.

Pete and Alvin were not present at the moment.

"Thanks for inviting us." Lee thanked as he and Clementine took a seat on another couch in their room.

"It's no problem," Carlos assured as he and Sarah sat down. "We want to be in the good books of as many people here as possible."

"That's a good thing," Omid said.

"Didn't you mention there were another two?" Christa asked, but she tried not to sound rude with her question. "Pete and Alvin, right?"

"Alvin's out getting some supplies for us at the moment," Rebecca replied. "Speaking of Pete, I'm not sure where he is."

"Oh, he said he was going fishing at that lake," Helen said. "Wanted to get Nick to go along, but he wouldn't get out of bed." Here, she gently nudged her son and snickered lightly.

"I'm not the best at fishing anyway." Nick admitted with a slight frown.

"There's a lake here?" Lee questioned with a curious eyebrow raised.

"Yeah," Luke responded. "It's pretty small, but Pete's caught plenty of fish. We have it for dinner once every other week."

"I've always wanted to go fishing," Clementine spoke up for the first time.

"Maybe we can take you with us one of times." Helen suggested, but she turned towards Lee to for his permission first. "That's if your father is okay with it of course."

"Oh, I'm not her dad." Lee replied. He gave them a look to tell them that her parents were gone.

Rebecca seemed to get what he was implying. "I'm very sorry, Clementine."

"Thanks," Clem muttered.

Lee decided to change the subject before the little girl got upset. "So we live just one floor below you guys. I guess that means we're going to be neighbors."

"I guess so," Luke nodded in agreement.

"There are more of us in other apartments," Omid explained. "There's a guy with a moustache that has a wife and kid. There are two more kids who look to be in high school, along with two other guys and gals. Let me warn you though, one just lost her dad, soooo...she might not be in the mood to meet people." He and Christa had been told of what all happened during Lee's journey.

Sarah looked slightly uncomfortable at the mention of losing a father.

Carlos placed his hand upon her shoulder and his expression told her that she would never lose him.

Lee checked his watch for the time to see it was 12:40 PM. "What time does lunch start? I'm kinda hungry."

"Me too," Clementine added, placing a hand on her stomach.

"It should be about that time soon," Helen replied. "They've got chefs for those who don't eat in their apartment, so we don't have to eat canned food all the time."

"Hmm, real food." Omid sighed with his eyes closed, imagining the taste of real food again. No more cooking cans or animals over a fire."

"Finally," Christa added.

As if on cue, Luke's watch beeped. "Speak of the devil," he said.

"We'll get our people and meet you down there." Lee replied as he and the others stood up and proceeded outside the apartment. Their new friends agreed to meet them down there while Lee, Clementine, Omid and Christa went upstairs to fetch the others.

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**And that ladies and gentlemen is the end for this chapter. The group are now in Wellington;an under-construction community for safety. Now I bet all of you guys and gals are thinking "How are you cabin group in Wellington when they were in Howe's?". In this story, Luke mentioned that Pete found the flyer when the paper brushed up against his leg. The answer to the question is fate. That's right, ladies and gentlemen. Fate.**

**The final chapter is coming next. Stay tuned. **


	15. Chapter 15: home

**Redemptive Opportunities**

**Chapter 15: home**

**Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the end of another story. On behalf of my co-writer and I, we'd like to thank you all for taking the time our of your lives to read our story. Thank you and enjoy the final chapter.**

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As Lee proceeded back into their apartment, Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck happened to be exiting their apartment as well, obviously having been given some kind of signal as well. "Hey, Lee. You heading down too?" Kenny asked.

"That's right." Lee nodded as they got onto their floor. "I'll get the others and meet you down there."

"Will do," Kenny replied, and then turned to follow his wife and son.

First, Lee went to Travis and Ben's apartment, where they had one bedroom with two beds.

"Hey kids, they're serving lunch now." Lee told them. "If you can't find where to go, just hang around outside and I'll show you."

"Sure thing," Travis said. He and Ben stood up and walked outside as they hadn't explored the place yet.

Lee proceeded to do the same for the others until everyone was on their way there. He noticed Chuck walking out of his room he shared with Mark, now wearing some cleaner clothes. "Hey Chuck."

"Howdy," Chuck answered with a light smile. Even he seemed to be happier at this point, but then again, it had probably been a very long time since he had a chance to wear some decent clothes or have a good meal. "You walking down there?"

"Bet there in a minute, just going to get Lilly." Lee replied, but since he was here, he requested a favor. "Mind taking Clementine down there for me? I'll just be a minute."

He had the feeling Lilly would still be in deep grief over her father, but now that they were safe, Lee had to finally do something to comfort her.

He walked over and knocked on her door, where she would be on her own. Footsteps could be heard trudging over to the door until it finally opened. Lilly looked somehow relieved at who it was. "Oh. Hey."

"Hey." Lee greeted with a slight nod. "It's lunch time. You coming down for something to eat? A proper cooked meal for once."

Lilly seemed to think about it for a minute. "Okay," she gave in. "It'll be nice." Here, she managed a very small smile.

Before they left, Lee placed his arm in front of her to prevent Lilly from passing him for them to speak alone. "Lilly, I know you're still in deep mourning of your dad and you have right to be. I know it's hard and the pain never gets better, but you have to remember that we've all lost someone. I lost my family, Clementine lost hers, and the others more than likely lost most of their family too. You may not have your true family again, but just remember that you still have us and we've all been together for three months now. Yeah, we argued, but what matters was that we stuck together no matter what. We're all family now. If your dad is watching over us, he would want you to move on and stay strong to fight no matter what, to find somewhere safe. Now we're somewhere safe."

Lilly looked at the wooden floor, processing Lee's words.

"Thank you, Lee," she finally spoke. "That...that means a lot. It does." She crossed her arms and smiled very lightly, and she actually looked slightly better after the older man's words. Though, it would be a while yet before she fully recovered. "I'll come down with you, I won't keep the others waiting."

Lee nodded and was glad that he finally brought Lilly from the dark path back to the light.

Once they were downstairs, the former motor inn group made their way into one of the cafeteria buildings and was served a variety of meals of their choice. After picking their food, the group sat on the same table with Luke, Nick, Pete, Alvin, Rebecca, Helen, Carlos and Sarah.

"I don't we got the chance to meet you two earlier." Lee greeted Alvin and Pete as he sat beside Clementine. "I'm Lee."

"Hey there, I'm Pete," Pete introduced himself, and he reached over to shake Lee's hand.

"And I'm Alvin." Alvin gave a nod and a smile.

"Good to meet you both." Lee nodded after he shook Alvin's hand.

The rest of the group decided to introduce themselves to their new neighbors and everyone seemed to be getting on just fine. Things are going great so far.

"You mentioned you were a doctor, Carlos?" Katjaa inquired before taking a bite of her noodles.

"I am," Carlos nodded. "I work in the medical facility during the day, four to six days a week. Depending on the schedule."

"That's a good job," Mark praised. "I used to work in the military too, but I was a pilot."

"I dreamed of becoming a pilot when I was younger." Luke admitted while he picked up some red sauce. "But I met Nick and we tried to start our own pawn shop business."

"We were totally shitfaced when we thought of it," Nick nearly grumbled. "Some fuckin' plan. We were flat broke in six months, but...it was fun."

"Swear," Clementine innocently piped up.

"I like her." Helen smiled as she pinched Nick on his ear for swearing in front of children...Again.

"I worked at the university." Lee spoke up while he tried to debate on what to eat first. He decided to go for the eggs.

"Really? What did you teach? If you were a teacher, I mean," Alvin inquired.

"I taught mainly history." Lee answered. "Was quite a good job, I liked it. What about you and Rebecca?"

"I worked a few jobs here and there, but my latest one was a bartender right before all of this happened," Alvin replied. "Bec here was a waitress at a fancy restaurant."

Rebecca shrugged after taking a drink of water. "It was okay, most days at least."

"Sounds like simple jobs." Carley spoke up after taking a bite of her lunch. "I was a reporter for WABE."

"Like, on the news?" Sarah chimed in.

Carley nodded. "Exactly like that."

Jobs were the topic for the next few minutes following. Even Lilly threw a few words in when she was spoken to, and didn't lash out.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you guys get here?" Lee asked the group of friends and family. "We all came here by train."

"We had just formed our group when Luke saw a flier for this place," Helen explained. "We had a meeting and decided to try and find it. It wasn't like we had anywhere to go in the first place."

"You would've thought that it was just a ploy, but why would someone send fliers all the way out to Carolina if it was?" Pete shrugged. "So, we traveled for some days, and now, here we are."

"Well, we're all safe now and that's what matters." Lee looked on the positive side of this outbreak. "Now we can sleep without having to keep a gun next to our pillow."

"Ain't that the truth," Nick replied.

"You know, Lee, they were thinking about developing a school here," Carlos said. "Perhaps you could talk to someone about becoming a teacher, since you've had experience."

"Really?" Lee brightened slightly and turned his attention towards Clementine. "That would be great and Clementine here mentioned she was hoping for a school here.

"That sounds like a great idea," Katjaa spoke up.

"I don't wanna go to school," Duck pouted, making most of the adults chuckle.

"It'll be good for you, Duck." Lee assured the young boy. "But it's up to your parents, of course."

"It's up to you, Duck." Kenny told his son with a slight grin.

Duck thought about it. "Okay," he finally decided. "You're not mean like my old teacher was."

"Of course not." Lee reassured. He then shifted his attention towards Carlos and Sarah. "Maybe I could teach Sarah too if that's okay with you Carlos."

"It's fine with me," Carlos said. He turned to his daughter. "What do you think, honey?"

Sarah nodded and smiled slightly. "Sure!"

Now with that settled, Lee decided to ask more about Wellington's future plans. "Anything else they got planned to set up?"

"Other than the school, I think chief wants to add in one or two more apartment buildings," Luke replied. "That's if there's enough space, of course."

"And I heard they might be adding in some garages for vehicles." Pete spoke up. "That way they can keep going on supply runs with decent cars."

"That's smart," Mark complimented.

"With the way things are going right now, I'd say this place could run for years," Kenny smiled.

"Amen to that." Lee agreed.

* * *

After a long day of getting to adjust life in Wellington, the day was beginning to turn to nighttime and it was time for the group to tuck in for the night. Lee took Clementine to their new room and tucked her into bed.

"Goodnight sweat pea." Lee whispered as he planted a kiss on her forehead.

In a matter of seconds, Clementine was fast asleep but Lee decided to think things over for a while. He sat on his bed and looked out of the window of his apartment, knowing that he did it. He finally found somewhere safe for himself, Clementine and their group and could now keep the promises he failed to keep in the past. Everything was going to be okay, everything was going to be fine now. Wellington was their home now and would be for the rest of their lives.

Lee was grateful for that second chance and he used it wisely to make things right. Never again would he fail to keep promises, never again he would have to kill another walker.

And never again would he lose Clementine.

* * *

**The end. Once again, thank you ladies and gentlemen for reading our story. In case you missed the author's note from before, this is our last co-written story together. After this, it's back to me writing solo. Be sure to hit that review button and let us know what your opinions was on the story. **

**In a couple of weeks, _The Walking Dead: Fight for Survival_ sequel will be released soon. _The Walking Dead: The Decimation of Mankind_, coming soon. **

**Assassin's Creed Master out.**

**Disclaimer: The Walking Dead is owned by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, Charlie Adlard, and Telltale Games.**

**The cast:**

**Dave Fennoy voice of Lee Everett**

**Melissa Hutchison voice of Clementine**

**Nicole Vigil voice of Carley**

**Gavin Hammon voice of Kenny**

**Cissy Jones voice of Katjaa**

**Max Kaufman voice of Kenny Jr. "Duck"**

**Mara Junot voice of Christa**

**Owen Thomas voice of Omid**

**Sam Joan voice of Doug**

**Trevor Hoffmann voice of Ben Paul**

**Ruby Butterfield voice of Travis**

**Nikki Rapp voice of Lilly**

**Terence McGovern voice of Larry**

**Roger Jackson voice of Charles "Chuck"**

**Nick Herman voice of Glenn**

**Kevin Burns voice of David Parker**

**Scott Porter voice of Luke**

**Brian Sommer voice of Peter Joseph Randall and Danny St. John**

**Brian Bremer voice of Nick**

**Andrew "Kid Beyond" Chaikin voice of Carlos**

**Louisa Mackintosh voice of Sarah**

**Shay Moore voice of Rebecca**

**Dorian Lockett voice of Alvin**

**Rebecca Schweitzer voice of Edith**

**Adam Harrington voice of Andrew "Andy" St. John**

**Jeanie Kelsey voice of Brenda St. John**


End file.
